Korea-Japan ties plunge deeper into abyss

Merchants from a fish market in Seoul stage a protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Friday, against the Japanese government's recent decision to discharge contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

Following Japan's decision to dump contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, soured relations between Korea and Japan are sinking deeper into the abyss, even raising fears that bilateral ties may not to get back on track until President Moon Jae-in's term ends next year.

On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet approved the release of contaminated water from the Fukushima plant, while the Moon administration responded with a plan to take the matter to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Despite Seoul's repeated demands for data related to the planned discharge, Tokyo has failed to provide any and has also failed to seek the understanding of neighboring countries that will be immediately affected by the contaminated water, the Korean foreign ministry said.

As a result, Moon has opted to take legal action, which was seen as the last resort for the government in dealing with the issue, although it would be a daunting task for Seoul to verify the damage caused by the contaminated water. To this end, the foreign ministry is set to continue asking for relevant data from Tokyo.

“Should Japan continue refusing to comply with our demands for relevant data, its act could violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” a ministry official said.

However, the plan was met with jeers from a Japanese politician.

“Shame on you if you file a lawsuit with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea!” said Masahisa Sato of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Twitter. “It becomes clear that the amount of tritium released from the Korean nuclear power plant is larger than that of Japan, and it just makes me laugh.”

Amid the mounting conflict, Japan's Kyodo News reported, Thursday, that a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between Korea, Japan and the United States had been delayed due to worsened ties between the two countries as well as Washington's ongoing policy review of North Korea. The three countries had sought to hold the meeting late this month in the U.S. when the review is completed.

“Given that the water will be discharged two years from now, we still have some time to address the issue with Japan. However, Tokyo is showing no signs of wanting to hold discussions with Korea, so the strained ties are likely to continue,” Shin Beom-chul, director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said.

“Considering the time left for the Moon administration, normalizing ties with Japan does not seem easy, although an unexpected opportunity may arise.”

Moon's term ends in May 2022.