Ruling Party and Government: "Opposition Must Stop Fukushima Contaminated Water Rumors... Prioritize Scientific Verification"

Yoon Jae-ok "Same Situation as the Mad Cow Disease Incident"
Park Dae-chul "Must Not Ruin the Fish Market"
Sung Il-jong "Request for Tritium Monitoring on the China Side"

The People Power Party and the government jointly criticized the Democratic Party of Korea for spreading unscientific rumors regarding the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The ruling party and government stated that they will work together to protect the safety of the public and the ocean with data that meets international legal standards.

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, pointed out at the expanded meeting of the "Protecting Our Seas Verification TF" held at the National Assembly on the 7th, "The opposition party is ignoring scientific evidence and still deceiving the public with unverified information."

Yoon said, "Even last weekend, the Democratic Party leadership held an outdoor protest in Busan, claiming that the discharge of Fukushima contaminated water would kill all our fishermen, spreading unproven rumors," adding, "This is exactly like the mad cow disease incident when people said eating American beef would cause mad cow disease and everyone would die."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the expanded meeting of the Our Sea Protection Verification TF held at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He continued, "The People Power Party and the government have decided to take the difficult path of science and verification, not rumors and agitation," emphasizing, "Because that is the right path for the people."

Park Dae-chul, chairman of the Policy Committee, also said, "If the Democratic Party does not intend to ruin the domestic fisheries industry and threaten fishermen's livelihoods, I hope they immediately stop spreading unscientific rumors," adding, "They should not open a second season of mad cow disease for political purposes and ruin seafood restaurants and fish markets."

Seong Il-jong, chairman of the TF, told reporters after the meeting, "The inspection team visited Japan and asked whether contaminated water from the closed reactors might be leaking underground or if there is a possibility of leakage into the sea due to heavy rain or abnormal weather," adding, "The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to release a final report by the end of June, July, or August, but before that, the inspection team requested to speed up the internal review of the materials received and requested to study whether there are any countermeasures."

Seong explained, "There is also a large amount of tritium coming from China, so monitoring of this part was requested," adding, "Although the discharge has not yet occurred, the sales and transactions are already at a standstill. I urged the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to carefully prepare measures for the damage fishermen may suffer in the future."

He added, "There are no radioactive contaminated fish species among those imported from Japan," and said, "We will sincerely inform the public objectively and scientifically so that they are not deceived by rumors and do our best to prevent any damage."

Furthermore, he said, "We are collecting seawater samples at 52 points in our sea areas," adding, "We are thoroughly examining and measuring radiation in about 800 species of seafood, and I requested to find additional measures."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the expanded meeting of the Our Sea Protection Verification TF held at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the same day, ministers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries all attended the meeting to support efforts to block rumors related to Fukushima contaminated water.

Park Jin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said, "We have consistently worked to ensure that the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant is scientifically and objectively verified as safe and handled in accordance with international law and organizations, prioritizing public health and safety," adding, "We will continue to closely consult with Japan and cooperate with the IAEA and the international community regarding the transparent and safe disposal of contaminated water."

Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT, said, "It is also true that many scientists argue based on scientific evidence that if Japan discharges the contaminated water as planned, it is not a major concern," adding, "At this point, scientific and objective review of Japan's contaminated water discharge plan is crucial, and we must thoroughly verify the performance of Japan's contaminated water treatment facilities and whether the discharge is proceeding as planned."

Han Hwa-jin, Minister of Environment, also stated, "We plan to actively consider expanding and strengthening the current freshwater radioactive substance monitoring network by analyzing the impact of marine diffusion on domestic freshwater."

Cho Seung-hwan, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "We will prove that our seafood and farmed seafood are safe through thorough radiation inspections to counter baseless rumors, and regarding consumption decline, we will create strong support for the fisheries industry with bold and continuous consumption promotion measures."