Political Clash Over Japan's Contaminated Water... Ruling Party: "Opposition Has Ripley Syndrome"... Opposition: "President Yoon Must Say NO to Japan"

Yoon Jae-ok "Worried if the opposition believes lies as truth"
Park Kwang-on "Japan's discharge should be taken to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea"

On the 6th, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the Japanese government's plan to discharge contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. The ruling party criticized the Democratic Party of Korea, which decided to hold an overnight sit-in, accusing them of suffering from 'Ripley syndrome,' believing lies to be the truth. Meanwhile, the opposition party announced plans for an overnight sit-in and a public opinion campaign, demanding that President Yoon Seok-yeol express opposition to the contaminated water discharge.

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 6th, "The Democratic Party insists that the report, created by scientists from 11 countries over two years, is a worthless report tailored for Japan, and even spreads fake news claiming that Japan bribed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the contribution fees." He added, "They also do not mention that China pays twice as much as Japan in IAEA contributions, nor that South Korea was the chair country of the IAEA Board of Governors until September last year."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 6th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Floor leader Yoon continued, "I am worried that the Democratic Party has fallen into Ripley syndrome, believing the lies they created to be the truth by covering lies with more lies," and added, "Please remember that the only countries that have taken unreasonable stances against the IAEA in the past are Syria, Iran, and North Korea."

Criticism also continued regarding the Democratic Party's declarations of 'civil society solidarity' and the 'law to ban imports of Japanese seafood.' Yoon said, "When the public showed no interest in such (Democratic Party's) groundless claims, they declared solidarity with civil society groups and called upon veterans who previously agitated over mad cow disease and THAAD, as if to overturn the country once again." He questioned, "Are they really trying to overturn the country once more?" He added, "They say they will consider legislation to ban all Japanese seafood imports if the Japanese government begins discharge, but is this not calling for a trade war after singing the 'Jukchangga' (a traditional Korean protest song)?" He emphasized, "They also express a desire for supplementary budgets under the pretext of supporting the fisheries industry, which is a ruthless idea to push the fisheries industry to the brink of collapse for political gain and then hold the supplementary budget hostage."

Lee Yang-su, senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, appeared on SBS Radio that morning and criticized the opposition's overnight sit-in, saying, "We failed four years ago during the fast-track process because of that." He added, "At that time, politicians were obsessed with the obligation to do something rather than stay still, so they worked hard overnight and went out to Gwanghwamun. Meanwhile, many moderate voters left."

The opposition party demanded that the government express opposition to Japan's contaminated water discharge and launched a public opinion campaign including sit-ins.

Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at a policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly, "President Yoon needs to accurately convey the will of the people, 85% of whom oppose this issue, to Japan even at this late stage." He added, "The public expects this." Park said, "It is not too late to file a lawsuit with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and to agenda and highlight the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water at the upcoming London Protocol meeting this year." He requested, "We ask the government to mobilize all diplomatic efforts to ensure continuous discussions on this issue within the London Protocol framework."

He explained, "The Democratic Party will launch an emergency action to block the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water discharge, with all our party's lawmakers participating for 17 hours from 7 p.m. today until tomorrow." Park added, "It took 17 hours from the loss of cooling of the reactor to meltdown during the Fukushima nuclear accident." He stated, "If nuclear-contaminated water is dumped into the sea, it could lead to a meltdown of public safety. We strongly warn the president, the government, and the People Power Party, and aim to officially oppose Japan's contaminated water dumping by pointing out the flaws in the IAEA Secretary-General's final report for 17 hours."

Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 6th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Democratic Party lawmakers Woo Won-sik, Wi Seong-gon, and Yang Yi-won-young, who are fasting in protest of the contaminated water discharge policy, plan to hold a briefing for foreign reporters on the day to argue that the discharge plan threatens the safety of the Korean people and infringes on sovereignty.

The Democratic Party also announced plans to meet with Rafael Grossi, IAEA Secretary-General, who will visit Korea on the 7th, to convey their opposition to the discharge of contaminated water.

Meanwhile, the Justice Party will hold a meeting at the National Assembly in the afternoon with members of the Japanese Social Democratic Party (Shamin-dang), who oppose the ocean discharge of nuclear-contaminated water.

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