Japan's Contaminated Water Korea-Japan Talks... Ruling Party: "Yoon Creates Turning Point" Opposition: "Not Protecting People's Lives" (Summary)

Differences in Views on Outcomes of Korea-Japan Summit
Ruling Party: "Yoon Firmly Demanded for Public Safety"
Opposition: "Should Have at Least Requested Temporary Suspension"

Regarding the Japan-South Korea summit that discussed the issue of contaminated water discharge from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the ruling party evaluated President Yoon Suk-yeol as having created a "turning point to untie the knot." On the other hand, the opposition party opposed the summit results, claiming that President Yoon accepted the discharge.

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the Supreme Council meeting on the 13th, "Yesterday, President Yoon created an important turning point by untying the knot regarding the contaminated water discharge through the summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida."

Floor leader Yoon introduced, "The president emphasized that the health and safety of the people must be the top priority and requested Japan to share monitoring information in real time with our side to ensure the entire discharge process is carried out as planned, and also requested that our experts participate in the discharge inspection process. He also requested that if the concentration of radioactive materials exceeds the standard, the discharge should be immediately stopped and our side be informed."

He said, "It was a firm demand necessary for the safety of the people," and added, "Prime Minister Kishida virtually accepted all of President Yoon's requests, stating that they will not discharge in a way that harms the health and environment of their own citizens and Koreans for the safety of marine discharge."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 13th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Kim Byung-min, Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, said, "Even though scientific verification was conducted according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, I understand the many voices of concern about whether the discharge will proceed as planned and whether our waters will truly be safe," and evaluated, "(The summit) was an effort to achieve substantial results based on our government's proactive participation."

Jeon Ju-hye, floor spokesperson of the People Power Party, said in a separate statement, "The promise by the two leaders that there will be no discharge that harms public health and the environment will definitely be kept," and promised, "To this end, the People Power Party will closely cooperate with the government to ensure the participation of domestic experts in monitoring the discharge and real-time sharing of discharge information, doing our best to protect the safety of our people and the sea."

On the other hand, the opposition party stated that they should have at least demanded a temporary suspension of the discharge and expressed that they cannot accept the summit results.

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 13th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at the policy coordination meeting that day, "Prime Minister Kishida of Japan notified the marine discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water, and President Yoon accepted it, ignoring the expectations of the people." He said, "We cannot accept the summit results," and criticized, "The presidential office said it would state our government's position based on the principle of prioritizing the lives and safety of the people, but it did not. Our people's demands were missing from the summit agenda. The temporary suspension of marine discharge was not even discussed." He added, "It was a dialogue based on the incomplete IAEA report, and although President Yoon requested the participation of Korean experts in discharge inspection, Prime Minister Kishida gave a completely irrelevant answer that discharge would be stopped if standards were exceeded." He also said, "They ignored the effective measures proposed by the Democratic Party on a bipartisan basis," and "The government itself has eliminated the grounds to ban imports of Fukushima seafood."

Floor leader Park urged President Yoon, saying, "Marine discharge will continue for more than 30 years, and it is not a matter that the current administration can unilaterally decide," and pressured, "It must go through consensus with the people."

Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the Justice Party, who has been on a hunger strike opposing the contaminated water discharge for 18 days, said at the executive committee meeting held in front of the Japanese Embassy, "At the very least, the president should have requested 'the temporary suspension of contaminated water discharge until a missing evaluation is conducted,'" and criticized, "It is surprising that the government trusts the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company so much."

Leader Lee pointed out, "The biggest problem currently is that both the IAEA report and our government's investigation results were judged solely based on information provided by Japan," and said, "Japan is thoroughly mobilizing all processes that suit its own interests and is fully committed to 'shut up and discharge into the ocean.'" She said, "Given that the discharge has already started, would such a Japanese government strictly manage the radiation standards and stop the discharge if exceeded? If they cannot say to stop the discharge, they should at least propose jointly conducting marine ecological and health surveys of Fukushima." Leader Lee said, "The lives and safety of the people are not only separate from the president's diplomatic ideology but also the top priority," and urged, "Do not fix the barn after losing the cow by responding only when radiation standards are exceeded after the discharge, but immediately demand a temporary suspension of the discharge plan."

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