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Keeping mum a year after spreading rumors

Published: 25 Aug. 2024, 19:53

After Japan last year released contaminated water from Fukushima nuclear plants into the Pacific, the Democratic Party (DP) in Korea vehemently opposed it. The main opposition called it “a nuclear terror” and “the start of the second Pacific War.” DP leader Lee Jae-myung went on a hunger strike and DP lawmakers flew to Tokyo to protest the discharge.

But a year after the release, the DP keeps silent about the polluted water. Though environmental groups staged a rally in front of the Japanese Embassy last week, no DP lawmaker joined it. The party had threatened to enact four bills to ban seafood imports from waters off Fukushima, provide financial assistance to Korean fishers and allow them to demand compensation for their losses from Japan just a day after the DP leader declared an all-out war last August. But it was an empty threat. We wonder why the DP keeps mum now.

Tokyo Electric Power Company discharged 55,000 tons of treated contaminated water on seven occasions over the past year. Our government checked 165 spots in our territorial waters and 18 spots in the high seas, but couldn’t find any violations of safety guidelines. The DP was especially concerned about the concentration of tritium (H-3) in the waters, but the level was only 2.6 percent of the safety standards of the WHO.

The DP can criticize Japan’ release of contaminated water and demand a grave response from the Korean government. But the party must humbly accept the results of the government’s repeated tests if they didn’t violate any safety regulations and if nuclear experts from both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the government unanimously accepted the safety of the discharged water.

But the DP last year likened those radiation experts to “charlatans,” spread wild rumors about “radioactivity-riddled fish,” and even cajoled primary school students into “hating a president who sided with Japan’s discharge of the contaminated water.” Such moves are nothing but an irresponsible incitement to score political points domestically.

The DP must apologize for inflicting costly damage on our fishermen and restaurant owners by denying science and facts. If the DP sticks with its unique repertoire of first inciting people and then taking a step back — just as it did when the party spread the rumor “If you eat American beef, you’ll get the mad cow disease!” or “If the Thaad missiles are deployed in Korea, you must eat radiation-contaminated melons” — the majority party has no future.

Our government also must closely monitor if Japan really keeps its promise to release contaminated water according to its original plan. The government must not forget that the discharge is a long-term project which may take at least 30 years to finish.