That document doesn't mean what you think it means, rival parties say

Diplomacy

Published: 06 Sep. 2023, 18:45

That document doesn't mean what you think it means, rival parties say

Members of the Democratic Party protest Japan's release of treated radioactive water from the ruined nuclear power plant in Fukushima before the city council of Gwangju on Monday. [YONHAP]

The Korean political squabble over the release of treated radioactive water from Japan has degenerated into a he-said-she-said debate centering on a single document released by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

“The vice minister of oceans and fisheries in his statement Monday alleged that the legal department of the IMO said that the release of contaminated water from Fukushima is not an act of dumping,” said the Democratic Party in a statement on Wednesday.

“This cannot be farther from the truth,” it said, accusing the Yoon government to twisting the IMO’s words.

The vice minister of oceans and fisheries, Park Sung-hoon, said in a press briefing Monday that the IMO had largely left the application of the treaties to the "relevant parties involved," adding that the legal bureau of the IMO had released a supplementary opinion that the release of water from Japan is not an act of dumping.

The IMO in its report in July 2022 did not say whether the Japanese decision to release the treated radioactive water from its ruined nuclear power plant in Fukushima would be considered illegal dumping according to the London Protocol and London Convention, which are international treaties to prevent marine pollution caused by dumping of waste into the ocean.

“It is not certain that a broad interpretation of London Protocol would consider that such disposal would fall within the scope of the treaty,” it said.

As one of its reasons, it cited Japan’s decision to use a pipeline in releasing the water.

“There are arguments demonstrating that disposal from land through pipelines does not fall under the definition of dumping and is not within the scope of LC/LP,” it said, referring to the two treaties by the acronyms of their full names.

Yet it was this same document by the IMO that the DP’s leader cited recently with hopes to advance his position against the Japanese decision.

“As the legal advice on the application of the London Protocol of the Secretariat in 2022 states, the interpretation of the London Convention and London Protocol is the sole prerogative of its Parties and a broad application of the treaties was considered in the past,” Lee wrote in his letter to some 80 signatories of the two treaties this week, citing the IMO document within the sentence.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung sits with his head in his hands during a plenary session of the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Japan began to release into the sea treated water from its ruined nuclear power plant last month. It plans to release its over 1 million metric tons of the treated water into the sea for the next 30 to 40 years.

The process is being overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has supported Japan’s plan and called it consistent with international safety standards.

Lee and other DP leaders have vowed to continue to stage their opposition to Japan’s decision and to try to gain international traction for their cause. Lee has been on a hunger strike for a week as of Wednesday to protest the Yoon government's policies on Japan.

The administration has not supported Japan's decision to release the treated water from Fukushima into the sea but has stood by the IAEA's assessment.

The Foreign Ministry in a statement Tuesday expressed its regret to Lee and his party for their recent actions, which it called “repeated acts of disregard” toward the executive branch of government and its efforts to conduct diplomacy with a united front.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]