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The DP’s outdoor rallies do not make sense

Published: 29 Jun. 2023, 19:57

The Democratic Party (DP) has declared it will stage nationwide rallies from July to protest the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s embracing of Japan’s plan to discharge contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific. The majority party decided to hold demonstrations around the Namdaemun Gate near Seoul City Hall starting this weekend. DP Chair Lee Jae-myung has ordered its lawmakers to mobilize all members of the party for the rally scheduled for Saturday. Not only the DP leadership but also all chairmen of its 17 city and provincial committees are to join the protests.

The DP already raised the level of its attacks through street marches and hunger strikes. Rep. Woo Won-shik, a four-term lawmaker and former floor leader, has been on a hunger strike for five days to oppose the release of the treated water from Fukushima. In a similar vein, 13 other DP legislators, including third-term lawmaker Nam In–soon, a former activist, marched from the memorial altar in Seoul Plaza for the victims in the deadly crush in Itaewon last year to the National Assembly in Yeouido to urge the government to enact a special law to find the truth behind the tragedy.

But such alarming moves from the DP over Fukushima only help deepen the wounds of ordinary citizens already hard-stricken by inflation and high interest rates. Fishermen and owners of fish restaurants agonize over a steep plunge in their sales due to wild rumors about allegedly “radioactive maritime products.” Some people even rush to hoard sun-dried salts before Tokyo discharges the treated water to the ocean. After the government released its sun-dried salt stock to the market, customers rushed to buy it. Sadly, people’s concerns only deepen regardless of lack of scientific grounds for health threat from the treated water.

The rush to protests by the DP, which holds 167 seats in the 300-member legislature, constitutes sheer irresponsibility. An opposition party can fight the government, but it must be done in the National Assembly. Outdoor rallies only escalate the conflict. The leadership of the DP must brood over the reason for increasing internal criticism for such a belligerent approach.

The government and the People Power Party also must clear ungrounded concerns of the people fast. If they stop talking with the opposition after branding the DP as “producers of fake news” and “anti-state forces,” it is undesirable. The government must make public the findings of the inspection team dispatched to the Fukushima plant last month. Seoul must demand clear answers about the safety of the water from Tokyo, if needed. It must make effort to persuade people about safety by offering convincing answers.