Japan must keep its promise to the world

The Japanese government has decided to discharge the contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plants into the Pacific Ocean from Thursday. The decision came over a decade after the massive earthquake critically hit the power plants on March 11, 2011. In April 2021, then-Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga first made the decision to release the wastewater into the ocean. Now 28 months later, the decision will be carried out. Given the enormous amount of the contaminated water, over 1 million tons, the discharge will span 30 years. Despite Tokyo’s insistence on the inevitability of the release, it has raised many safety concerns in Korea.

What’s important now is minimizing the impact of the release on the maritime ecosystem. On Tokyo Electric Power Company’s discharge plan, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concluded that it meets the international safety standards, adding that the impact of the radiation from the release is ignorable. Japan must abide by the safety standards demanded by the IAEA. On Tuesday, the IAEA pledged to continue its inspection and evaluation on the discharge from day one. We hope the agency will keep its promise.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the nuclear plant Sunday, followed by his meeting with representatives of Japanese fishermen the next day. He claimed that many countries and regions understood and supported Tokyo’s response based on science. But the trust in Japan will be tested from now.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration persistently demanded that Tokyo allow Korean experts to participate in monitoring the discharge process. In a joint press conference after the tripartite summit at Camp David, President Yoon made it clear that the contaminated water should be released in a scientific and transparent way. Tokyo must respect Seoul’s position so as to build on the rare friendly atmosphere the Yoon administration tried to create.

A number of scientists in Korea reached the consensus that the wastewater will have a minimal impact on seafood due to the dilution of the radioactive waste in the ocean. Nevertheless, they can hardly dispel the deepening worries of consumers. The government must increase its radiation-level checks for seawater and marine products, as promised. It must also devise policies to compensate fishermen and others related to the fishing industry, not to mention having close communication with Tokyo. Opposition parties also must refrain from their emotional and irresponsible reaction to the release.