Ha Tae-kyung: "Three Preconditions for Contaminated Water under Moon Administration Are the Same as Yoon Administration"

Seemingly Responding to Yoon Geon-young's Criticism
"Inciting Public Conflict Is Not the Role of a Political Leader"

Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party who is engaged in a verbal dispute with President Moon Jae-in over the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima, has rebutted criticisms from some quarters by stating, "The conditions for the discharge of Fukushima contaminated water under the Yoon Suk-yeol government and the Moon Jae-in government are the same."

On the 25th, Ha said through his social media (SNS), "Yesterday, I said that the contaminated water response policies of the Yoon Suk-yeol government and the Moon Jae-in government are not different, but some people are making irrelevant claims."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This appears to be in response to some pro-Moon figures rebutting the discharge standards of the Moon Jae-in government. Ha cited statements made by former ministers Jeong Eui-yong and Kang Kyung-hwa during their terms, who said they would "follow the IAEA verification results," as evidence that the discharge conditions of the Moon and Yoon governments are not different. In response, Yoon Gun-young, a member of the Democratic Party, countered, saying, "The statements by Jeong Eui-yong and Kang Kyung-hwa are typical distortions and 'fake news' that the Yoon Suk-yeol government strongly dislikes," adding, "At that time, the Moon Jae-in government set three conditions."

However, Ha responded, "The former Minister Jeong's statement about following the IAEA verification results included three preconditions, which is said to be the difference from the Yoon Suk-yeol government. These three preconditions were 'sufficient scientific evidence and information sharing by the Japanese government, thorough prior consultation with the Korean government, and participation of Korean experts in the IAEA verification,'" adding, "These align with the Yoon Suk-yeol government's conditions of 'presentation of objective and scientific information, verification in accordance with international standards, and participation of Korean experts in the verification process.'"

He further stated, "Moreover, these conditions have all been fulfilled by the Yoon Suk-yeol government," adding, "Through numerous high-level and working-level meetings, including the Korea-Japan summit, the Yoon Suk-yeol government has fully implemented the preconditions set during the Moon Jae-in administration."

He also said, "Our raw fish restaurants and seafood industry are suffering tremendously," and added, "What we must do now is to meticulously check and monitor whether the Japanese government is properly adhering to the discharge conditions and monitoring promises made to our government and the international community. Inciting public conflict is not the role of political leaders."

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