"Weak 1000 Times Compared to Korean Standards"… Ruling Party's Full Response to IAEA Report

IEAE Report Scientific Verification Results
Today's General Assembly Discusses Response Direction to Contaminated Water Discharge
"Fukushima Contaminated Water 1000 Times Weaker Than Korean Standards"

The People Power Party (PPP) made every effort to block 'rumors' related to the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima, calling the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s final report stating that Japan's plan to release contaminated water from Fukushima meets international safety standards a "scientific verification result."

On the morning of the same day, the ruling party held an emergency party caucus at the National Assembly, where they received a report on the IAEA final report from Representative Seong Il-jong, chairman of the party's Task Force for Protecting Our Seas, and discussed the response direction to the contaminated water discharge. A senior member of the party leadership said, "We will discuss response measures centered on Fukushima," and "opinions will be gathered through the party caucus, based on which plans will be made and strategies established."

On the 28th of last month, the National Assembly held the 'People Power Party Our Sea Protection Verification TF - Fukushima Rumor Response and Fishermen Protection Measures Meeting.' Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The Yeouido Institute, the PPP's think tank, held a "National Debate: Citizens Ask, Experts Answer! Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Contaminated Water Treatment" at the National Assembly on the same day to assess the safety of the contaminated water discharge with nuclear power experts. Given the significant social anxiety caused by rumors related to the contaminated water discharge, the event was designed for citizens to ask experts for scientific evidence. Attendees included Park Sang-duk, senior research fellow at Seoul National University's Nuclear Policy Center; Kang Geon-wook, professor of nuclear medicine at Seoul National University; and Park Il-young, professor at the College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University.

Earlier, Representative Seong appeared on SBS Radio's "Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show" that morning and said regarding the IAEA report, "Scientists verified and measured it; 11 countries and the IAEA conducted it; and South Korea, the United States, France, and Switzerland collected samples and analyzed them three times for cross-verification." He added, "Because this result was produced, South Korea is a scientific and civilized nation." He also claimed that the radioactive exposure from Fukushima's contaminated water is about 1,000 times weaker than South Korea's annual standard of 1 mSv.

Meanwhile, the PPP filed complaints with the National Assembly Ethics Committee on the same morning against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), and party members Im Jong-sung and Kim Young-joo, vice chairman of the National Assembly. The disciplinary reason for Lee was his reference to Wade Allison, an emeritus professor at Oxford University whom the ruling party had invited as a speaker, as a "quack scientist" during a rally condemning the contaminated water discharge held in Incheon on the 17th of last month. In Im's case, it was his statement at a nationwide rally hosted by the DPK on the 1st, saying, "I would rather eat feces than drink Fukushima contaminated water." For Kim, the complaint was based on the disclosure of private messages related to a trip to Japan during a plenary session of the National Assembly on the 30th of last month.

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