Liberal politicians head to Japan to protest Fukushima dump

Politics

Published: 10 Jul. 2023, 20:04

Liberal politicians head to Japan to protest Fukushima dump

Liberal lawmakers includng former and incumbent Democratic Party members at Gimpo International Airport on Monday to leave for Tokyo in protest of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant's plan to discharge the treated radioactive water. [YONHAP]

Liberal lawmakers continue to rally against Japan's plan to release treated radioactive water from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.

Some politicians are even engaging in personal attacks on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s director general, who met with Democratic Party (DP) leaders on Sunday.

Some 11 lawmakers, including incumbent DP legislators and former DP members, flew to Japan to protest the discharge of radioactive water from the dysfunctional nuclear power plant.

The group includes Rep. Park Beom-kye, who served as the Moon Jae-in administration's final justice minister, as well as lawmakers Ahn Min-suk, Wi Seong-gon and Yang Yiwonyoung.

It also includes former DP Rep. Yoon Mee-hyang, who was fined earlier this year for embezzling donations to the civic group she led to support victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery.

The group's agenda during their three-day trip to Tokyo includes a rally in front of the Japanese prime minister’s residence.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is to travel to Lithuania to attend a two-day NATO summit.

In a statement issued just prior to its departure, the delegation claimed that the IAEA report was “an empty can,” or rubbish.

The statement also accused the report of being unscientific and failing to consider alternatives.

The lawmakers claimed that the report ignored the impact of radioactive material accumulating in the body or its effect on the ecosystem.

The lawmakers said they will do everything to stop a worldwide “disaster” from which there would be no return.

Back in Seoul, DP floor leader Park Kwang-on accused IAEA general director Rafael Grossi of being arrogant and political in comments he made in an interview with Korean media.

Grossi reportedly said Korea should be more worried about North Korean nuclear weapons than Fukushima.

“We cannot accept the comment as it completely lacked scientific basis and was full of political arrogance,” Park said during a party leadership meeting Monday. “It has insulted the Korean public’s awareness.”

The criticism came even after Grossi took time to meet with the DP on Sunday.

“We understood and we understand that preoccupations and concerns remain, and some are preoccupied thinking about the implementation of the plan and how this is going to happen in real life,” Grossi said. “This is why I proposed to Japan, and Japan agreed, that the IAEA will establish a permanent review of the plan.”

Grossi said that the IAEA will monitor the release process for decades to ensure it is “done in full accordance” with international standards, but this did not alleviate the DP floor leader's concerns.

"Instead, it sounded like there will be more problems in the coming decades," Park said.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, right, drinks water out of a bottle next to the Democratic Party Rep. Wi Seong-gon at the National Assembly on Sunday. The meeting was evaluated to have failed in meeting eye-to-eye on the safety of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant’s treated radioactive water. [YONHAP]

The government slammed the DP's criticism, particularly comments targeting the IAEA and Grossi.

Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, criticized what he called false accusations.

He took particular exception with rumors that the Japanese government bought off the IAEA, an international agency under the United Nations.

“One of the rumors is the claim that the Japanese government has granted the IAEA $1 million, or 1 million euro, with some people using the expression ‘bribe,’” Park said. “We checked the facts three weeks ago and confirmed with the Japanese government that this is fake news.

“Therefore, making such claims without additional facts, even after the news was verified, is seriously inappropriate.”

The moment Grossi touched down at Gimpo International Airport on Friday, he was accosted by protestors holding signs such as “Grossi go home” or “Shame on you.”

He was welcomed with similar protests when he met DP lawmakers on Sunday, with some demonstrators shouting, "How much were you paid?"

Park added that although Tokyo has yet to say when it will release water from the ruined Fukushima plant, Seoul is closely monitoring the situation.

He also reconfirmed that the Korean government would continue to ban fishery imports from Fukushima.

Korea has been upholding an import band of fishery products from eight prefectures around Fukushima since September 2013.

President Yoon and his Japanese counterpart are to meet in Lithuania, according to the president’s spokesman Lee Do-woon on Sunday.

Although details are unknown, there is speculation that Fukushima will be discussed.

This would be the first meeting between the two leaders in two months. Meetings between the two have grown more frequent with the recent thaw in bilateral relations.

In a statement released Sunday, the DP demanded that Yoon strongly express the Korean public’s opposition to Japan’s release of its “nuclear wastewater” to Kishida.

“It is the purpose of a nation and its ultimate goal in national affairs to protect the life and safety of its people,” DP spokesman Kwon Chil-seung said. “We cannot rely on Yoon, who is personally responsible for managing the country, to protect the people’s health and survival rights against the nuclear wastewater.”

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]