One reporter sits in the mostly empty briefing room as a government official speaks on issues regarding waste water release from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant at the government complex in Seoul, Nov. 10. Newsis
The discharge of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant would “doom all fishing industries” in Korea, Lee Jae-myung, the opposition leader, said, vowing an “all-out effort” to stop it.
After the Japanese government proceeded with the plan on Aug. 24, the chief of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) went on a hunger strike a week later, urging President Yoon Suk Yeol to do more to protect the safety of the public. “It’s not too late yet,” he added.
But now, Lee and other DPK politicians barely raise the topic. The attention of the media and the public appears to have waned. Once crowded with journalists, the briefing room for issues relating to Fukushima's wastewater release is almost empty these days.
“Usually, three to four reporters come for the regular briefing recently,” an official told The Korea Times on Monday.
Experts said that Fukushima wastewater, once seen as a major issue ahead of the general elections, slated for early next year, appears to be “dead.”
“To stay in the attention of the public, there should be new developments on the issue. But so far, there have been no safety problems found,” said Cho Jin-man, a professor of politics and international relations at Duksung Women’s University.
“Public worries have waned in the meantime. I believe it is very unlikely that the issue will reemerge as one of the key ones before the elections.”
On Monday, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the operator of the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, wrapped up its third 17-day-long wastewater release. The water contained approximately 190 becquerels (Bq) of tritium per liter, far below potentially hazardous levels, and it was diluted and discharged safely as planned, Shin Jae-sik, head of the radiation emergency bureau at the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, said during the latest press briefing.
With test results consistently showing no major problems, the DPK leader’s grim prediction about the fishing industries has turned out to be wrong, to the relief of many small business owners.
“As a party promoting itself as a party for ordinary people, the DPK knows that it could face anger from many of small business owners and others in such industries, which were indeed in serious trouble when the issue was emerging,” Cho said. “So it would rather highlight issues like inflation, which many from its supporter base would react more sensitively to.”
Polls indicate that the majority of Koreans are against the release of wastewater from Fukushima. According to one recent survey, released on Sept. 1, 72.4 percent of respondents said they were against the discharge.
This strong opposition was probably what motivated the DPK to go all out to highlight the issue in the first place, but it may be wrong to assume that voters would agree with the way the DPK handled it, according to Hong Hyeong-sik, a political analyst who runs Hangil Research, a pollster.
“Polls show most voters oppose Japan’s decision to release the Fukushima radioactive water. But they also know there is a limit to what the Korean government can do to change it,” Hong said.
“If someone assumes that voters would vote for certain parties or people just because the politicians criticize the things they don’t like, it would be an underestimation of voters.”
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