Korea-Japan 'Contaminated Water Inspection Team' Agrees on 'Four-Day Schedule'... 12-Hour Marathon Talks

South Korea and Japan have agreed to conduct a four-day visit by a Korean expert inspection team to the Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water site in Japan. However, the detailed schedule of the inspection program has not been finalized, and additional consultations will be held soon to coordinate further.

On the afternoon of the 12th, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jongno-gu, Seoul, during the Korea-Japan working-level talks on the Fukushima contaminated water site inspection, South Korea's Yoon Hyun-soo, Director General of the Climate Environment Science Diplomacy Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Japan's Kaifu Atsushi, Director of the Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Division, entered the meeting room and awaited the start of the meeting.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 13th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that South Korea and Japan held a director-level meeting at the Seoul Ministry of Foreign Affairs building to discuss the specific details of dispatching the inspection team to Fukushima, reaching this agreement.

The consultation began at around 2:15 p.m. the previous day and ended at around 2 a.m. the following morning. During this 12-hour "marathon" meeting, both sides engaged in in-depth discussions on the inspection team’s dispatch schedule and the scope of activities, including inspection items, based on detailed proposals from the Korean side.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "In the meeting that extended past midnight, both sides actively and sincerely engaged in discussions to realize the prompt dispatch of our inspection team to Japan." Accordingly, the visit by the Korean expert inspection team is expected to take place over three nights and four days, including the dates of the 23rd and 24th.

Originally expected to last about 4 to 5 hours, the meeting extended to approximately 12 hours. This is presumed to be due to a tug-of-war over specific items of the facilities the inspection team would access and the information to be provided.

The meeting was led by Yoon Hyun-soo, Director General of the Climate and Environmental Science Diplomacy Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Atsushi Kaifu, Director of the Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Science Department at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with participation from related agencies on both sides. The Korean side included representatives from the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and Ministry of Science and ICT. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry attended in person, while the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) participated via video conference.

Park Gu-yeon, First Deputy Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, explained at a press briefing the previous day, "The inspection team plans to directly verify the overall operation status of the contaminated water purification and discharge facilities and the capability for radioactive material analysis, and to identify information necessary for our scientific and technical analysis."

The Japanese government also issued a press release on the same day, stating, "During the briefing, based on the Korean side’s areas of interest, explanations and Q&A sessions were conducted by the Japanese side." Japan refers to the "director-level consultation" as a "briefing." It also emphasized, "Going forward, related agencies will work together to transparently and politely explain to the international community the safety of the treated water and the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.