Lawmaker tables bill recognizing damage from Fukushima water as 'fishing industry disaster'

A lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Tuesday proposed a bill that recognizes damage to aquaculture products caused by Japan's planned release of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant as a "fishing industry disaster."

Tabled by Rep. Park Chan-dae of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the revision to the Act on the Prevention of and Countermeasures against Agricultural and Fishery Disasters stipulates damage from the water discharge as a valid case of a fishing industry disaster.

The act currently recognizes damage caused by factors including abnormal tidal currents, red tides, typhoons and other natural phenomena approved by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries as a fishing industry disaster.

Park said he tabled the bill to establish the grounds to support fishermen in potential cases of damage that could arise from Japan's water discharge in the wake of concerns that the move could eventually contaminate Korean waters.

The DPK has urged Tokyo to suspend its plan to release radioactive water from the Fukushima plant into the sea until neighboring countries approve of the idea. (Yonhap)