TOKYO, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Japan has suspended poultry imports from South Korea from Thursday after a suspected case of bird flu was found at a poultry farm in the southwest of the country, a Japanese Agriculture Ministry official said on Friday.

Japan as a rule halts poultry imports from countries where there has been an actual or reported outbreak of bird flu.

Japan imported a total of 1,500 tonnes of fresh and processed poultry and duck meat from South Korea last year, which is about 0.2 percent of Japan´s total global imports, the official said.

On Thursday, South Korea´s farm ministry said it had discovered a suspected case of bird flu at the poultry farm, which could be the country´s first outbreak in about three years.

A South Korean ministry official said about 6,000 chickens at a farm in North Cholla province had died this week. The remaining 6,000 or so poultry at the farm would now be culled