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Yoo Guk-hee, the chairperson of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, who headed the expedition of Korean experts to inspect the Fukushima nuclear power plant, speaks to reporters after returning from Japan on May 26. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s ruling People Power Party (PPP) is accusing the opposition of spreading ungrounded rumors about the release of contaminated water from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

After the South Korean inspection team to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant returned on Friday, opposition parties criticized the results of the visit, saying that “the worries of the public will not be resolved by merely looking at what Japan is willing to show to visitors.” In response, the PPP accused the opposition of stoking public unrest.

Even if the response was made to show that the ruling party would not be swayed by any attacks made by the opposition, the PPP have gone too far in merely dismissing concerns related to public safety as “ungrounded rumors.”

The inspection team said that during their two-day visit to Fukushima (from May 23 to May 24), they examined the contaminated water treated by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) and facilities for diluting tritium.

However, their inspection was nothing more than a confirmation that the equipment shown to them by TEPCO were working properly. South Korean experts were not able to take samples independently. As the opposition pointed out, they merely “looked at what Japan is willing to show.”

This is why there are criticisms regarding the inspection team’s visit, accusing them of merely playing a supporting role in Japan’s plan to discharge contaminated water starting in July.

The fact that the inspection team will announce a final assessment after the release of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report next month is also being lambasted as irresponsible, as it seems that the government has abandoned any attempts at taking the initiative on this issue and is trying to blindly follow the IAEA’s decision to authorize the discharge.

Most of the public opposes the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima. In a survey of 1,000 adults conducted by the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM) from May 19 to May 22, 85.4% of respondents opposed the move.

Regarding the Japanese government’s claim that discharging contaminated water will not cause any safety issues, 79% of respondents said that they did not trust that statement.

Some 64.7% of respondents believed that the South Korean government was not responding adequately. However, the PPP is merely parroting the statement that the Group of Seven countries have issued an agreement to respect the International Atomic Energy Agency’s judgment that the discharge of contaminated water will not be a problem, and therefore saying that any concerns regarding the action is “ungrounded.”

South Korean people are worried because the government is not disclosing sufficient information and explanations about the discharge of contaminated water but seem to be meekly going with Japan’s plan of action.

We do not know if the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima will take 30 years or 50 years. It could take even longer. Of course it is natural for people to be worried about the impact of discharged contaminated water on future generations.

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