With "The Opposition's Mouth That Spat Out Political Pollutants Is a More Dangerous Pollution Zone"

Yoon Jae-ok "Democratic Party Lowers the Level of Korean Politics"
Park Dae-chul "Fake News Agitation That Has Lost Its Effect Must Be Ended"

On the 10th, the People Power Party strongly criticized the Democratic Party of Korea for meeting with Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at the National Assembly the previous day, saying it was "inviting international embarrassment."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the same day, "The opposition's attitude was consistently beyond common sense as we had feared," adding, "The Democratic Party disregarded scientific explanations on issues such as the long-term impact of contaminated water discharge from the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), which they have intensively raised concerns about, and continued to make one-sided claims through political bias, thereby degrading the level of Korean politics in front of the international community."

The day before, the Democratic Party's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Contaminated Water Marine Dumping Countermeasure Committee summoned Director General Grossi to the National Assembly to convey opinions related to Fukushima contaminated water. The People Power Party pointed out that the Democratic Party focused more on pressuring Director General Grossi rather than presenting scientific evidence. Representative Woo Won-sik, who is on a hunger strike opposing the discharge of contaminated water, said the previous day, "I am very concerned after seeing Director General Grossi say in a media interview that nuclear contaminated water can be drunk and one can swim in it," and questioned, "If he is so confident that it is safe, why not use the water for drinking in water-scarce Japan or for agricultural or industrial purposes instead of dumping it into the sea?"

Floor leader Yoon criticized, "Along with harsh accusations that the IAEA verification lost its neutrality and was biased toward Japan, they continued to nitpick Director General Grossi's answers from the previous day," adding, "If they are confident about safety, their reckless pressure asking whether Japan has no intention of requiring the water to be consumed domestically as drinking water shows a complete lack of respect for the representative of a neutral international organization."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He also said, "Director General Grossi probably expected a polite and rational discussion since he was meeting with an opposition party with governing experience, but he sighed as the rude and unreasonable claims continued," and pointed out, "The Democratic Party should painfully listen to Grossi's remark that North Korea's nuclear issue is a bigger concern than Fukushima contaminated water."

Supreme Council member Kim Byung-min also said, "The Democratic Party, which has called the contaminated water treatment a radioactive terrorism, is now ignoring arguments about how harmful it is to the human body after the IAEA report based on scientific analysis was released, and is only fervently engaging in emotional agitation telling others to drink it if it is safe," adding, "With Democratic Party politics focused solely on agitation, they are now going beyond borders to Japan. I hope the Democratic Party returns from political opportunism to politics for the people."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The People Power Party emphasized that the IAEA investigation results were based on scientific verification. Supreme Council member Kang Dae-sik said, "The IAEA Task Force, composed of nuclear safety experts from 11 countries, verified Japan's discharge plan for about two years and concluded that the contaminated water treatment plan complies with international standards, consistent with our own safety review initiated during the Moon Jae-in administration," adding, "Nevertheless, the Democratic Party is reacting aggressively, saying they cannot trust the verification results." Supreme Council member Cho Soo-jin also explained, "In preparation for the contaminated water discharge, the government increased the number of radiation surveys from 40 to 200 in our coastal and offshore waters, and increased the number of seafood inspection stages from 29 to 53."

Park Dae-chul, chairman of the Policy Committee, also condemned the Democratic Party's behavior the previous day. Chairman Park said, "Their substandard political offensive against Director General Grossi is so shameful that we cannot hold our heads high in the international community," strongly criticizing, "Their mouths spewing political pollution are more dangerous pollution sources than the contaminated water itself." He added, "Without showing any will to purify these polluted mouths, they only increase public concern, and the Democratic Party's reckless rumor-mongering politics continue to this day," and said, "As experienced during the mad cow disease incident, domestic political rumors can never cross borders. I hope the Democratic Party puts an end to their fake news agitation, which has lost its effectiveness."

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