Fukushima discharge plan roils sentiment in region

Contaminated water tanks piled up at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant [YONHAP]

After Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority approved the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant starting in 2023, Koreans took to the internet to protest.

“It will soon become difficult to eat fish,” one post on Korean social media read. “This will adversely affect not only the oceans but also the entire ecosystem,” read another.

Since Friday's decision in Tokyo, “Fukushima” was one of the top trending keywords on Twitter’s search engine for Korea. More than 3,000 related tweets were posted.

“Discharging Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the sea is a crime against humanity,” read a post on Weibo, the largest Chinese social media platform. Read another: “We need to respond to this strongly at the national level.”

A Chinese blogger with over 763,000 followers called for a boycott of imported seafood and agricultural products from Japan.

“There is no problem with safety,” the Nuclear Regulation Authority stated, saying it had approved a plan for the discharge of contaminated water submitted by the Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (Tepco) in May, after which it made evaluations internally.

“We plan to start construction of facilities for discharging contaminated water soon and complete the construction of the facilities by the spring of next year,” announced Tepco on the same day.

According to local media reports, research by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres of Germany concluded that if contaminated water from Fukushima is released into the ocean, it will only take seven months for the contaminated water to reach the shores of Jeju Island.

The Korean government convened an emergency meeting of relevant ministries Friday and conveyed its concerns about the decision to the Japanese government.

The Chinese government also protested the decision. “The discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima could affect the marine environment and general health of Pacific coastal countries,” said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Friday. “Contaminated water should not be discharged until sufficient negotiations with those connected to the situation and international organizations have been made.”

“If Japan insists on putting its interests above international public interests, it will pay the price for its irresponsible behavior and leave a stain on history,” added Wang.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]