hankyoreh

At a press conference calling on South Korean presidential candidates to set out plans for dealing with Japan’s plans to release contaminated water from the Fukushima site, members of environmental groups put on a sketch wherein one member (wearing a mask that reads: “Korea’s next president”) stops another (wearing a mask of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida) from turning the faucet on contaminated water. (Kim Tae-hyeong/The Hankyoreh)

Environmental groups in South Korea are calling on presidential candidates to make public their stances on Japan’s plans to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear site, and to come up with courses of action.

Groups including the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM), Nuclear Safety and Future, and Korea Radiation Watch convened for a press conference on Thursday morning in front of KFEM’s offices in Jongno District, Seoul.

The groups criticized the government’s response thus far as “timid,” saying that since Japan had announced its intentions to release the radioactive water in April of last year, the government had only gone so far as to express protest to the Japanese Embassy and send a letter of protest to Japan.

The groups called on presidential candidates to come up with concrete, practical plans for dealing with the issue.

Members of environmental groups present at the press conference hold up signs as they urge candidates for president to announce their stances on Japan’s plans to release radioactive water into the ocean. (Kim Tae-hyeong/The Hankyoreh)

One person present at the press conferences holds up a sign that reads: “Candidates for president! Put forward plans for dealing with contaminated water from Fukushima!” (Kim Tae-hyeong/The Hankyoreh)

Those present at the press conference call on presidential candidates to make their stances on Japan’s release of contaminated water into the ocean. (Kim Tae-hyeong/The Hankyoreh)

By Kim Tae-hyeong, staff reporter

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