Controversy Over 'Early Release of Contaminated Water' Request... Opposition: "Reported by Japan" vs Government: "Baseless"

Opposition's Offensive: "Why Silence on Reports from Japan?"

As the discharge of contaminated water from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant approaches, controversy has arisen following a report by a Japanese media outlet claiming that the South Korean government and ruling party requested Japan to expedite the release of Fukushima contaminated water.

On the 18th, the Democratic Party of Korea's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Contaminated Water Marine Dumping Countermeasures Committee (Countermeasures Committee) held a press conference and raised their voices regarding the report by Japan's Asahi Shimbun stating that "an unofficial request was made to Japan for early discharge of contaminated water before the April general election," asking, "Did the Kishida government receive such an intention?"

On the 18th, participants hold placards at a joint press conference by the four opposition parties and civil society against Japan's discharge of radioactive contaminated water into the ocean, held in front of the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

The Countermeasures Committee said, "According to the Asahi Shimbun report on the 16th, the Yoon Seok-yeol government and the People Power Party unofficially conveyed to the Japanese Kishida government the intention to carry out the marine dumping of Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water at an early time when it would have less impact on next year's election," adding, "This is no different from saying they exchanged the safety of the people for their political interests."

They continued, "The Yoon Seok-yeol government and the People Power Party have so far dismissed public concerns as rumors and even spent 1 billion won of taxpayers' money to run advertisements claiming that the marine dumping of Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water is not dangerous to our country," and questioned, "Why do they remain silent about the Japanese report after ignoring public concerns and suppressing them as rumors?"

Furthermore, they urged the government to clarify its position on the Japanese report. The Countermeasures Committee stated, "President Yoon Seok-yeol and the People Power Party must respond to the authenticity of the content of the Asahi article," and demanded, "Clarify immediately whether the Japanese report is a rumor or not."

The government maintains that it has not requested Japan to expedite the discharge of contaminated water. Park Gu-yeon, First Deputy Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said at a daily briefing on Japan's contaminated water held at the Government Complex Seoul on the same day, "We ask that reports or claims of this nature be refrained from after today's briefing."

Deputy Minister Park emphasized, "All judgments by our government regarding the discharge of contaminated water are focused on the health and safety of the people and are based strictly on scientific review without any political considerations."

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