'Yoon Receiving Nuclear Contaminated Water in a Cup' Poster Appears... Police Launch Investigation

Investigation of Jeju Environmental Movement Association Officials Following 112 Report
56 Posters Attached at 42 Locations Including Bus Stops

Posters photoshopped with an image of President Yoon Seok-yeol smiling while holding a cup of nuclear-contaminated water have been posted throughout Jeju City. In response, the police have launched an investigation into the Jeju Environmental Movement Union officials who put up these posters.

Jeju Environmental Movement Association posted a poster at a bus stop in the Jeju area on the 22nd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to a Yonhap News report on the 22nd, the Jeju Police Agency is investigating three individuals, including a representative A from the Jeju Environmental Movement Union, on charges of violating the Outdoor Advertising Industry Promotion Act and the Minor Offenses Act. The police began the investigation after receiving multiple 112 emergency calls reporting that posters related to the discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, featuring a photo of President Yoon, had been posted in various locations.

The posters were produced by the Jeju Environmental Movement Union opposing Japan’s Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water ocean discharge. The poster features a Rising Sun Flag background with a radiation symbol in the center. At the top, the phrase "Can we really drink Japan Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water?" is written, and at the bottom, an image is photoshopped showing President Yoon smiling while receiving nuclear-contaminated water pouring from a PET bottle into a cup. The police have confirmed that 56 posters were posted at 42 locations, including bus stops in the Jeju area.

The Jeju Environmental Movement Union, which produced and posted the posters, is pushing back, claiming "the police are conducting an excessive investigation." The union stated, "The Minor Offenses Act was created to punish minor offenses such as illegal dumping of trash or public urination, but the police, simply because a report was filed, checked the vehicle registrations of two people who posted the posters, identified them, and even sent two investigators to one of their residences to conduct an investigation." The group further argued, "This is clearly government oppression using public authority to silence voices on a sensitive issue," and raised their voices saying, "We will intensify our opposition movement to stop the ocean discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water."

Meanwhile, the Korean government inspection team, which departed on the 21st for a 5-night, 6-day trip to inspect the contaminated water treatment process at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, began its official schedule on the 22nd. The head of the inspection team is Yoo Guk-hee, chairman of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the inspection as a "three no’s (no sample collection, no inspection team list, no media verification) blind inspection." The Democratic Party also condemned the recent meeting they held with Wade Allison, an honorary professor of radiation and nuclear physics at the University of Oxford in the UK, who was invited by the People Power Party and claimed that "even 10 liters of contaminated water can be consumed."