Vice President of the National Fishermen's Association: "Fishermen are devastated... What is the Korean government doing?"

Vice President of the National Language Society, YTN Radio Interview
Calls for Measures Including Ban on Japanese Seafood Imports

Kim Young-bok, Vice President of the National Fishermen's Association, spoke about the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, saying, "Sales of abalone, crabs, shrimp, and other seafood have generally been very poor," and added, "Not only sashimi restaurants but also wholesale markets are seeing almost no customers," conveying the depressed atmosphere in the fisheries industry.

In an interview on the 28th with YTN Radio's 'News King Park Ji-hoon,' Vice President Kim said, "We kept hoping it wouldn't happen, but now that our fears have become reality, fishermen are devastated," and stated, "It is a desperate reality that we cannot help but ask what the South Korean government has been doing."

The day after the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, on the 25th, a fisherman is sorting flounder to be auctioned at the Suhyup auction site in Namae Port, Yangyang-gun, Gangwon Province. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the government and ruling party's stance of "protecting seafood safety through thorough monitoring based on science," he criticized, saying, "Science is ultimately about probability," and added, "Claiming safety because the probability is low is actually unscientific." Vice President Kim said, "In human history, there has been no case of large-scale, long-term treatment of contaminated water like Fukushima's. How can that be called science? It's simply laughable."

On the government's request to group meal providers to promote seafood consumption, he pointed out, "There is a risk of infringing on human dignity. The idea of forcibly making people eat just because it is group meals is dangerous."

Vice President Kim emphasized, "We need measures that allow people to safely and freely consume our seafood, which is a high-quality protein source," and argued, "Realistic alternatives such as banning imports of Japanese seafood like China or Hong Kong, or conducting full inspections rather than sample checks, are necessary."

He also stated, "Currently, the representative of the National Fishermen's Association Federation is staying in Japan," and emphasized, "We will unite with Japanese fishermen and use all means and methods to protect the world's oceans and pass them on to future generations, fighting to the end until the ocean dumping of nuclear contaminated water, which will bring disaster to humanity, is stopped."

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