Second Day of Government Questioning... Opposition: "Even the Prime Minister Should Resign" vs Han Deok-su: "No Intention to Resign"

On the 6th, Debate on Government Questions Over Japan's Contaminated Water and Chae Sang-byeong Incident
Seong Il-jong "Moon Administration Pressured Retraction of Paper Claiming 'No Impact from Contaminated Water'"
Kim Byung-joo "Yoon Government Cabinet Should Resign Completely"

On the second day of the National Assembly's government questioning on the 6th, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over issues such as the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima, Japan, and allegations of external pressure related to the death of soldier Chaesangbyeong during flood recovery operations. During the process, the opposition emphasized the need for personnel reshuffling in the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and mentioned a 'cabinet-wide resignation' to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who responded by saying, "I have no such intention."

On this day, Seong Il-jong, a member of the People Power Party, introduced a paper presented by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute to the Nuclear Society on October 15, 2020, stating, "When the Fukushima contaminated water was released, this paper concluded that there was no impact on our seas," and claimed that the Moon Jae-in administration exerted pressure to retract the paper after it was published. Seong said, "The surprising thing is that the researcher who wrote this paper is facing disciplinary action," pointing out that "this is unacceptable."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He raised his voice, saying, "Several researchers at the institute ran simulations and concluded that there was no impact on our seas, so why would there be pressure to cancel this?" and "This kind of paper should not have come out to exploit anti-Japanese sentiment." When opposition lawmakers shouted loudly, Seong said, "If Democratic Party lawmakers also need this paper, I will send it to your offices," and criticized, "Please stop riding on anti-Japanese sentiment to overthrow the administration."

On the other hand, the opposition launched an offensive by raising the possibility of radioactive substances being detected in the contaminated water discharged from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Kim Byung-joo, a member of the Democratic Party, said, "Do you know who will be most directly hit by the discharge of Fukushima contaminated water? The Navy." He emphasized, "The Navy uses tidal devices to remove saltwater from the sea to produce water for use. However, tidal devices cannot filter out radioactivity. If they drink such water contaminated with radioactivity, they are essentially consuming it as is."

Prime Minister Han responded, "We plan to conduct inspections at 200 locations in our waters related to this discharge, and even plan to inspect in international waters outside Japanese waters," and questioned, "Can anyone among the 52 million people in the Republic of Korea understand the claim that the Navy drinks water contaminated with radioactivity?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Questions also continued regarding allegations of external pressure related to the Chaesangbyeong case. Lawmaker Kim questioned Prime Minister Han about the process in which former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Commander Park Jeong-hoon, who was booked on charges of not following the Defense Minister's order to withhold referral of the Chaesangbyeong investigation results to the police, had his charge changed from 'leader of collective insubordination' to 'insubordination,' leading to a heated exchange during Han's response.

When Kim asked, "Do you know that the reason for charging with 'leader of collective insubordination' was because three people involved did not answer their phones, suggesting collusion?" Han retorted, "As a retired army general, how could such a thing happen in the military?"

Han explained, "At first, since no one answered the phone, it was judged as collective insubordination. But later, it turned out that the investigation unit commander lied, saying, 'The Defense Minister also fully agreed with the report, so it is okay to proceed as is.' Because two subordinates followed that lie, it cannot be treated as the same crime of collective insubordination, so the charge was changed from collective insubordination to insubordination."

Regarding rumors of the Defense Minister's dismissal, Han said, "It is not appropriate for me to comment." When further asked, "Are you the only one unaware?" he replied, "I do not think I have any reason to agree or disagree with whether I am being bypassed," and added, "I will not comment."

Lawmaker Kim said that the Yoon administration has no choice but to undergo 'personnel reshuffling' to overcome the crisis and asked, "What do you think about the entire cabinet, including the Prime Minister, resigning en masse?" Han responded, "I do not think so," and when Kim urged him to "think deeply," Han replied, "I have no intention to think about it." Some ruling party lawmakers criticized, saying, "This question is like an elementary school class meeting."