Government: "No Request Made to Japan for Early Release of Contaminated Water"

Regarding Japanese Media Reports Requesting Early Release
Repeated Denial of 'No Truth' for Two Consecutive Days

On the 18th, the government stated that it "has never requested Japan to start the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant before next year's general election," in response to Japanese media reports claiming that the Korean government asked Japan to begin the discharge early. The government issued this rebuttal for the second consecutive day amid strong suspicions and criticisms from opposition parties regarding the report.

Previously, during a daily briefing the day before, the Japanese Asahi Shimbun was mentioned for reporting that "within the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and the ruling party in Korea, voices are emerging to expedite the discharge of Japanese contaminated water to minimize negative impacts on the general election," which Deputy Director Park had denied as groundless.

Park Gu-yeon, First Deputy Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, made these remarks during a daily briefing on Japanese contaminated water held at the Government Seoul Office. He requested, "After today's briefing, please refrain from such reports or claims." Park added, "Despite yesterday's explanation, related reports continue, so I want to make it clear once again."

He continued, "All judgments by our government regarding the discharge of contaminated water are focused on the health and safety of our citizens and are based strictly on scientific review without any political considerations." Accordingly, Park dismissed the issue as "something the government has neither considered nor will consider."

Meanwhile, Park Sung-jun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, mentioned this issue during a National Assembly briefing the previous afternoon, criticizing, "If the government knowingly requested Japan to discharge the Fukushima nuclear contaminated water early despite the clear anxiety of our people, it would be an outrageous act."

In this regard, the government revealed that in working-level consultations with Japan, which have been ongoing since the end of last month to discuss accompanying measures for the full-scale discharge of contaminated water, it requested Japan to notify Korea of the discharge timing well in advance before actually starting the discharge.

When asked by reporters whether it was true that the Japanese government might decide on the timing of the contaminated water discharge at a ministerial meeting as early as the 22nd of this month, Park responded, "There was no specific mention of the discharge timing by the Japanese side during the bilateral meetings held over the past few weeks." He added, "One of the agenda items in the working-level consultations is to ask Japan to inform us with sufficient lead time before the discharge. If a decision is made, we want prior coordination with Korea." Park also said, "We plan to share the results of the working-level consultations as soon as possible next week."

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