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Koreans express fears over Japanese fishery products amid Fukushima water release plan
Minister of Food and Drug Safety Kim Gang-lip checks on the testing for radiation contamination of fishery products imported from Japan, at Gamcheon Port in Busan, April 19, amid growing concerns over safety following Tokyo's decision to release massive amounts of radioactive water into the sea. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
This is the first in a series of articles to highlight the possible effects of, and concerns over, Japan's decision to discharge radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. ― ED.
Government asked to enhance food safety controls
By Jun Ji-hye
An increasing number of Korean residents are expressing fears about the potential harmful impact of Japanese fishery products on their health, after the neighboring country announced it would release massive amounts of radioactive water into the sea.
On April 13, the Japanese government announced a plan to start releasing water containing tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was devastated by a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in March 2011, into the Pacific Ocean beginning 2023, despite Seoul's protests.
The Fukushima plant, on the east coast of Japan, holds an estimated 1.25 million tons of contaminated water in more than 1,000 tanks.
Though Tokyo said powerful filters would remove all radioactive substances except tritium, which it says is harmless to humans in small doses, many residents here are expressing uneasy feelings toward the plan.
“I heard 30,000 tons of Japanese fishery products are imported into Korea every year. I would not trust you if you said all these products are safe,” said Han Joo-hee, a 45-year-old mother of two young children, in Gyeonggi Province. “I've also seen news reports that some merchants have lied about the place of origin of Japanese fishery products, disguising them as locally produced. I don't know if I can continue to cook seafood for my children.”
Amid the growing concerns over safety, a council consisting of superintendents of regional education offices nationwide warned that it will prohibit the use of Japanese fishery products in school meals if Tokyo pushes ahead with the plan to release the contaminated water.
“The Japanese government has made a selfish, irresponsible decision despite opposition from neighboring countries that are worried about the health of their people and the possible destruction of the marine ecosystem,” the council said in a statement April 16, calling on Tokyo to rescind its decision.
Adding to concerns is that two out of three of the Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) Advanced Liquid Processing Systems (ALPS), the pumping and filtration units designed to remove radioactive substances from the Fukushima water, have yet to receive final approval from the Japanese government.
According to the Hankyoreh local daily newspaper, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa said during a meeting of the Diet, the Japanese parliament, that it was “urgent” to store and treat the contaminated water, while acknowledging that some due procedures had been skipped.
In addition, Greenpeace East Asia has revealed that the ALPS “does not remove tritium or carbon 14, and other radioactive isotopes such as strontium-90, iodine 129 and cobalt-16,” according to the Global Times.
Members of a progressive group of university students are seized by police near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, April 17, as they tried to make their way into the embassy to join a press conference criticizing Japan's decision to release contaminated water from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Yonhap
Radioactivity checks
Since 2013, the government here has banned imports of fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures adjacent to Fukushima, and conducted radioactivity checks on products from other parts of Japan.
“We have conducted radioactivity checks on more than 2,000 samples every year,” an official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said.
The Institute of Health and Environment under the direct control of the Busan Metropolitan Government, began conducting radioactivity checks on Japanese fishery products during preliminary distribution in 2012 as about half are imported into Korea through ports there.
An official from the institute said checks have been conducted about once a month on average, as the institute carries out tests only after officials from district offices bring it samples and request testing.
These measures, however, seem to be insufficient to relieve the anxiety of the people as fishing is affected by ocean currents, and sample testing does not mean that all fishery products from Japan go through radioactivity checks.
Criticism is also arising that these checks have not been systematically carried out due to the lack of a control tower, as multiple government institutions including the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the National Fishery Products Quality Management Service are involved in the importation of Japanese fishery products.
Experts said the government should react scientifically and logically, rather than politically and emotionally, to Japan's decision to release the radioactive water, in order to relieve people's anxiety.
“The most important thing the government should do now is tell the people the scientific facts regarding the Fukushima water so they are not swayed by false information, and beef up its efforts to include a Korean expert in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring team,” said Park Jong-woon, a professor of the department of energy and electrical engineering at Dongguk University.
“The government should also enhance food safety controls and expand radioactivity checks on Japanese fishery products if those measures can help dispel people's fears.”
For their part, local governments, including the Busan Metropolitan Government, have vowed to crack down on the falsification of the place of origin of fishery products, and expand radioactivity checks.
Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon said April 21 that the city government will measure radioactivity at eight locations in the waters off Busan more than once a month and increase the number of samples being checked for radiation contamination.
The mayor also said the city will make the results of radioactivity checks public twice a month, up from the current one time.
“We will enhance safety controls on fishery products and continue to come up with measures to protect the marine environment,” Park said.