hankyoreh

Members of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and an independent panel of experts that advises the forum carried out an on-site inspection of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in February 2023. (courtesy of TEPCO)

The agreement by the South Korean and Japanese leaders on Sunday to send a South Korean inspection team to Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant raises concerns that South Korea could be caught in a trap of lending legitimacy to Japan’s release of contaminated water and resuming imports of agricultural and marine products that have been banned until now.

To avoid becoming stuck in such a trap, whether it opposes the release or pushes for a postponement Seoul will need to be clear and consistent in its stance on the release of contaminated water based on data Korean experts collect during their visit.

South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Monday that a ministerial-level meeting will be held to discuss the details of the inspection team to be sent to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on May 23-24.

It also shared that the on-site inspection team will consist of experts from relevant government agencies and affiliated organizations.

The rush to organize working-level procedures seems to be based on the fact that the decision to dispatch an expedition itself came suddenly.

A presidential office official told reporters after the summit on Sunday that the visit would be “more than a mere tour,” and expressed the hope that it would be “possible to investigate the substances and elements [in the contaminated water] together.”

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan shakes hands with President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea after their joint press conference following their summit in Seoul’s presidential office on May 7. (presidential office pool photo)

However, a look back at previous inspections of the power plant permitted by Japan to other countries shows that these are false hopes.

Other than the International Atomic Energy Agency, Japan has only granted two inspections: one to Taiwan (March-November 2022), and another to the secretariat of the Pacific Islands Forum, a grouping of 18 Pacific Island nations (February 2023).

These day-long inspections consisted of five stages. First, TEPCO representatives explained the overall process, including the discharge of contaminated water purified by the Advanced Liquid Processing System, and then visited the site.

This was followed by visits to the “K4” tank, which measures the concentration of radioactive substances in the contaminated water before discharge, the 1-kilometer submarine tunnel that connects the tank to the sea, and the test site for breeding halibut and abalone in diluted contaminated water.

Finally, the inspections ended with a visit to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Okuma Analysis and Research Center, which will analyze post-release effects.

The visit is more of a tour of TEPCO’s public relations efforts to reassure the public that the discharge of contaminated water is safe, rather than an actual joint inspection. TEPCO conducts similar programs for local residents, the general public, businesses, journalists and civic organizations.

Tanks containing irradiated water from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown fill the grounds of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (AP/Yonhap)

If Seoul remains tight-lipped after this tour, it could lead to the misconception that South Korea has effectively acquiesced to Japan’s plans to discharge contaminated water. Worse, it could lead to the unintended consequence of breaking a decade-long ban on imports of agricultural and marine products from Fukushima, which has been in place since the March 2011 nuclear disaster.

South Korea won a World Trade Organization dispute in April 2019, claiming that Japan’s waters off its coast, where radioactive material leaked from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, were a “potential hazard.”

“With one or two months left before the discharge, if we don’t have solid data or logic to refute the action, we will merely nod our heads and let the issue slide,” Suh Kune-yull, a professor of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University, told the Hankyoreh. Suh added that he worries that Japan will use this to pressure South Korea to remove import restrictions on Fukushima-sourced seafood and other products.

Inspection of tanks full of diluted contaminated water in which TEPCO is keeping flounder and abalone, shown here in an undated photo, was also a part of the inspections by Taiwan and Pacific Island teams. (Yonhap)

Japan blames South Korea, which has maintained a ban on imports, for propagating the notion that Fukushima seafood is unsafe. According to data from Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 55 countries and territories have imposed export restrictions since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, but only five, including South Korea and China, have banned imports.

China has taken a strong stance against the release of contaminated water, and Pacific Island nations, which will be the first to feel any effects of the release, have called for the release to be delayed.

On the other hand, while highlighting public health concerns for its people, South Korea has remained ambiguous about the discharge.

Song Ki-ho, a lawyer specializing in international trade, criticized the government in a release that read, “The government has received data on contaminated water from Japan four times during the past two years. But so far, it hasn’t made any evaluation or analysis.”

By Kim So-youn, Tokyo correspondent; Shin Hyeong-cheol, staff reporter

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