Fukushima Resident Ogawara Saki Visits Jeju on the 4th
Grandmothers from Fukushima, Japan, visited Jeju Island to convey an apology on behalf of their country regarding the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water. On March 11, 2011, a tsunami caused by an earthquake led to the explosion of a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. Subsequently, on August 24, 2023, the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company began releasing radioactive contaminated water, which had been injected into the reactor to cool nuclear fuel, into the sea.
Yonhap News reported on the afternoon of the 4th that the event titled "Meeting between Jeju Haenyeo and Fukushima Grandmothers" was held at the Comprehensive Welfare Center in Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City. The event was hosted by the Minbyun (Lawyers for a Democratic Society) Fukushima Contaminated Water Ocean Dumping Constitutional Petition Legal Team, the non-lawyer group Haebaragi, and Greenpeace officials.
On the 4th, the event "Connecting Hearts Across the Sea: Meeting Between Jeju Haenyeo and Fukushima Grandmothers" was held at the Comprehensive Welfare Center in Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City. Yonhap News
On that day, grandmother activists Suzuki Mari and Ogawara Saki, who live in Fukushima Prefecture, visited the site. Ogawara resides in Miharu Town, located 45 km from the Fukushima Tokyo Electric Power nuclear power plant where the explosion occurred during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
She said, “During the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion, I breastfed my son. Radioactivity was detected in the breast milk of nursing women in Japan, more than 8,000 km away from the accident site. It was then that I became aware of the contamination of radioactivity and have been involved in anti-nuclear movements ever since.”
Suzuki stated, “My hometown is already contaminated, and many people live with anxiety due to radioactivity. I came here to discuss and learn together with you about what we can do for the future.”
On the afternoon of the 4th, the event "Connecting Hearts Across the Sea: Meeting Between Jeju Haenyeo and Fukushima Grandmothers" is taking place at the Comprehensive Welfare Center in Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City. Photo by Yonhap News
Ogawara and Suzuki said they learned about the situation of Jeju haenyeo after watching the documentary "The Last Haenyeo," released on Apple TV Plus last October. "The Last Haenyeo" is a film that tells the story of haenyeo losing their livelihoods due to climate change and marine pollution.
Ogawara said, “I felt that the haenyeo, who risk their lives diving into the sea to harvest seafood, possess a fundamental mindset that humans should have, based on their toughness, reverence for the sea, and a natural view that unites humans and the ocean as one. Although we opposed the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company’s discharge of contaminated water and campaigned against it, we could not stop it, and I cannot suppress my deep frustration.” She added, “I sincerely apologize on behalf of the Japanese government and others for polluting the sea, which is the living and working environment of Jeju haenyeo.”
The Minbyun Fukushima Contaminated Water Ocean Dumping Constitutional Petition Legal Team is proceeding with a constitutional petition holding the Korean government accountable for neglecting the Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water discharge, on behalf of over 40,000 citizens from various sectors.
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