Korea vows thorough radiation tests of seafood as Japan begins 2nd round of Fukushima water release
An official checks radiation levels of fish to be sold at a fish market in Daegu, Aug. 28. Yonhap
Korea will continue intensive radiation tests on domestic and imported seafood as Japan began the second phase of the discharge of contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean on Thursday, the oceans ministry said.
Japan began to release wastewater again from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was crippled by a massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, into the Pacific Ocean earlier in the day, following the first phase of discharge in August and September.
"The government carried out more than 14,000 rounds of radiation tests on seafood, which already surpassed our goal for this year, and all the products met our safety standards," Vice Oceans Minister Park Sung-hoon told a regular press briefing on the Fukushima issue.
Under the intensive testing scheme, the ministry carried out tests on more than 8,000 samples of seafood at the production level so far this year, including more than 1,500 cases among cultured fishery products and nearly 1,000 samples from deep-sea fishing.
It also conducted over 5,500 tests on marine products at local markets, as well as a total of 3,869 rounds of radioactivity checks into over 17,000 tons of seafood imported from Japan this year by end-September, according to the ministry.
"We will continue to carry out seafood radiation checks thoroughly and make all-out efforts to ensure the safe management of seafood," he added.
In August, the ministry began a 100-day intensive inspection into the marking of country of origin for imported seafood products.
The Seoul government banned all seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures near Fukushima in 2013 on concerns over their radiation levels in the wake of the 2011 meltdown incident, and vowed to keep in place the import curbs until public concerns are all eased.
The ministry has also strengthened seawater radiation tests by doubling the number of coastal spots in territorial waters and more distant areas to over 200 this year, and plans to take samples from 243 locations next year, Park said.
Korea's imports of Japanese seafood hit the lowest level in two years in August, according to government data. (Yonhap)