Democratic Party Launches Fukushima Contaminated Water Task Force in the Assembly... "Focused Response"

Next Week's 'National Assembly Questions' to Include Offensive on Fukushima Contaminated Water
Plan to Convey Position to IAEA as Well

The Democratic Party of Korea has launched a parliamentary task force to block the ocean discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima, Japan, and has officially begun its activities.

Park Kwang-on, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the launch ceremony of the Fukushima Contaminated Water Task Force held at the National Assembly on the 5th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the 5th, the Democratic Party held an inauguration ceremony for the task force at the National Assembly in the morning, appointing Song Ki-heon, the senior deputy floor leader, as the head, and appointing the Democratic Party secretaries from five standing committees?Political Affairs, Science, ICT and Broadcasting, Foreign Affairs and Unification, Environment and Labor, and Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries?as deputy heads, along with Song Ki-ho, a lawyer and international trade expert.

Floor leader Park Kwang-on emphasized at the inauguration ceremony, "The formation of this task force means that among the requests we have made to the People Power Party and the government, we will focus intensively, powerfully, meticulously, and precisely on what can be done within the National Assembly." He added, "Since the Democratic Party’s floor leadership and the secretaries of the relevant standing committees are all pooling their efforts, we will do our best to achieve the expected results."

All members of the deputy floor leadership team will participate in the task force, and advisory members will include Professor Ha Mina of Dankook University, Han Byung-seop, co-chair of the Nuclear Safety Research Association, Professor Choi Ji-hyun of Jeju National University Law School, Professor Shin Dong-ae of the Faculty of Law at Kitakyushu University in Japan, and Professor Hosaka Yuji, Distinguished Professor at Sejong University.

The parliamentary task force plans to push for the adoption of a resolution in the National Assembly to block the discharge of contaminated water, conduct urgent inquiries in standing committees, establish a special verification committee in the National Assembly, and urge the government to request provisional measures from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Song Ki-heon, the senior deputy floor leader and head of the task force, said, "Although the government dispatched an inspection team to Fukushima and they returned after inspection, it did not alleviate public anxiety at all," adding, "It is a situation where the National Assembly must step in." He said, "The Democratic Party has actively formed the floor leadership team to thoroughly review the Fukushima contaminated water discharge issue and to urge the government to do what it can by holding hearings." He added, "We will carry out activities as quickly and accurately as possible to eliminate public anxiety."

After the inauguration ceremony, floor spokesperson Lee So-young told reporters, "Each of the five related standing committees needs to hold meetings quickly to conduct urgent inquiries, but meetings have not yet been scheduled due to issues such as lack of cooperation from the ruling party." She explained, "Various issues related to Fukushima contaminated water will be addressed in the upcoming government questioning session next week."

She said, "Since the discharge timing is being discussed as early as July, the situation is very urgent," adding, "The task force plans to promote joint responses with governments and parliaments of Pacific island countries, and is also preparing ways to convey the opposition party’s position to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."