85% of Koreans oppose Japan’s plan to dump Fukushima wastewater into ocean

Posted on : 2023-05-26 17:00 KST Modified on : 2023-05-26 17:00 KST
72% said they would cut their consumption of marine products if Japan goes through with the release of contaminated water from Fukushima
Fish are sold at a market on May 24 some 55 kilometers from where Japan plans to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. (Yonhap)
Fish are sold at a market on May 24 some 55 kilometers from where Japan plans to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. (Yonhap)

A new survey has found that 8 out of 10 Koreans oppose the Japanese government’s plan to discharge contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

According to the results of a survey released by the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM) on Thursday, 73% of respondents were “strongly opposed” to the release of contaminated water, while 12.4% were “generally opposed.” In total, 85.4% were against the move.

The proportion of respondents who said they “generally agreed” or “strongly agreed” were 6.4% and 4.3%, respectively. Those who answered “unsure” or “other” accounted for 3.9%.

The survey was commissioned to the polling organization Research View by KFEM and conducted on 1,000 Korean men and women aged 18 or older from May 19 to May 22. The survey had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95%.

On May 25, KFEM announces the findings of their survey on Korean attitudes about Japan’s plan to release contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. (courtesy of KFEM)
On May 25, KFEM announces the findings of their survey on Korean attitudes about Japan’s plan to release contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. (courtesy of KFEM)

In total, 79% of respondents did not trust the Japanese government’s claim that discharging contaminated water from Fukushima would cause no safety issues. Only 17% of those surveyed said they trusted this statement. The respondents who trusted the Japanese government’s claim tended to be male (20.9%), in their 20s (27.3%) and conservative (24.4%).

Concerns that consumers would shy away from marine products in the event that Japan proceeds with the discharge were also confirmed.

In response to the question “How do you expect your consumption of marine products to change if the discharge of water begins?” 72.3% of those surveyed stated they would greatly or somewhat reduce their consumption. Those who indicated their consumption would greatly or somewhat increase accounted for 10.6%, while 16.1% said there would be no major change.

When asked how the Korean government should respond to the release of contaminated water, 61.6% replied “expand or strengthen import restrictions on marine products.” The figures for “maintain the current level of import restrictions” and “reduce or ease import restrictions” were 23.4% and 8.6%, respectively. A further 6.4% responded “unsure” or “other.”

By Yu Sun-hui, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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