Agreement Reached on Fukushima Contaminated Water Hearing... When Will Safety Verification Take Place?

Japan continues discharge preparations... Disagreement on South Korea hearing timing
Ruling party "After IAEA report" vs Opposition "As scheduled"

The ruling and opposition parties have agreed to hold a 'hearing on the contaminated water from Fukushima, Japan,' but they differ on the timing of the event. The ruling party insists that the hearing should be held after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verification results are released, while the opposition party argues that the IAEA verification is not a study on the impact on human health or the environment and demands that the schedule proceed as originally agreed.

Song Ki-heon, the senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on June 12 on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' "I don't think we need to place significance on the IAEA report or adjust the National Assembly schedule accordingly," adding, "If the special committee is approved at the plenary session, the committee can be formed and proceed immediately based on that approval."

Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers, including leader Lee Jae-myung, are shouting slogans urging the prevention of Fukushima contaminated water dumping at a party meeting held at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Earlier, on June 8, Senior Deputy Floor Leaders Song Ki-heon and Lee Yang-su of the People Power Party agreed to form a special committee on the Fukushima nuclear power plant and hold a hearing on the contaminated water. However, just one day later, on June 9, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, stated at a floor strategy meeting that the hearing should be held only after the IAEA verification, creating an impression that the bipartisan agreement was breaking down.

In response, the Democratic Party emphasized that the IAEA report and the special committee for the Fukushima contaminated water hearing and verification are separate matters. They argued that since the IAEA report does not investigate the impact of the contaminated water discharge on the environment and human health, it is not an appropriate measure to alleviate public anxiety.

Senior Deputy Floor Leader Song said, "The IAEA report only judges whether the facilities related to the discharge by Tokyo Electric Power Company meet the standards set by Japan," adding, "It is not a report based on research on how the contaminated water affects the environment, especially human health."

Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Company completed the operation of filling seawater into the approximately 1 km-long underwater tunnel dug from the nuclear power plant to the sea on June 6 and is proceeding with the commissioning of equipment for discharging the Fukushima contaminated water.

According to local private broadcaster Fukushima TV, Tokyo Electric Power plans to conduct the commissioning of the discharge facilities for about two weeks starting June 12. The method involves mixing seawater with water that contains no radioactive substances before releasing it.

Japan has announced that it will discharge the Fukushima contaminated water around this summer, after the submission of the IAEA final report. The IAEA inspection team is expected to submit the final report around the end of June, based on a comprehensive verification process conducted during their visit to Japan. Japan is likely to begin discharging the contaminated water if the IAEA final report concludes that there are no problems.