Woo Won-sik "Discharge of Contaminated Water Has No National Benefit, Yet Promotional Videos Are Made Using Taxpayer Money"

"Japan's Discharge Decision, Opened by the Korean Government"

Woo Won-sik, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (and the party's Chief Countermeasure Committee Chair against Contaminated Water Discharge), criticized the government's statement that it "does not support or endorse" Japan's decision to discharge contaminated water from Fukushima, pointing out that it is practically the same as agreeing by saying, "They did not raise any objections to Japan's decision."

In an interview with MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" on the 23rd, Rep. Woo said, "There was even a report that the Presidential Office spent 38 million won of its budget to produce a video claiming that discharging contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant is not dangerous to our country," adding, "Our government has opened the door for this."

Regarding a Presidential Office official's statement that the budget was spent for "public safety promotion," he pointed out, "It has not been confirmed to be safe," and said, "The Fukushima nuclear power plant will continue to discharge contaminated water for 30, 50 years, or perhaps even longer until it is decommissioned and no more discharge occurs. Even now, it is expected to be discharged for 30 years, so how can a Presidential Office with a five-year term know the situation after 30 years?"

Woo Won-sik, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the appointment ceremony of the General Countermeasures Committee to Prevent the Ocean Dumping of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Contaminated Water held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 14th. 2023.8.14 Photo by Yonhap News

He continued, "We learned the lesson from the humidifier disinfectant incident that unverified substances should not be used. We should not claim something is safe when it cannot be confirmed," and questioned, "Especially since we are not Japan, what benefit does it bring to our national interest to use taxpayers' money to promote what Japan is doing?"

Rep. Woo criticized, "(The government) has not explained how the discharge of nuclear wastewater benefits the national interest of the Republic of Korea," and said, "The government unilaterally claims safety regarding matters that worry the public and cause harm to us, dismissing voices that say 'safety has not been confirmed' as rumors. The public is truly angry at such a government."

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