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| Seen are tanks storing water that was treated to remove most but not all radioactive contamination after it was used to cool down spent fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Feb. 27, 2021. AP-Yonhap |
Tokyo seeks to capitalize on Korean team's inspection in lifting Seoul's seafood ban
By Nam Hyun-woo
Japan is expected to take advantage of a Korean inspection team's visit to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in promoting its planned discharge of irradiated water at the plant as "safe" and, furthermore, pressuring Seoul to resume imports of seafood originating from the vicinity of the damaged nuclear plant.
According to NHK, Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tetsuro Nomura said in a press conference, Tuesday, that Korea bans all seafood imports from eight prefectures including Fukushima, and he wants to ask Seoul to lift those bans.
"I heard that the inspection is focusing on water treated through the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) at the Fukushima plant," Tetsuro said. "Additionally, I want to ask (Korea) about lifting the import ban."
The comment came as the 21-member Korean team has been at the site since Sunday to inspect Japan's plan to dump the contaminated water into the ocean. Critics here believe the comment showed Japan's intention to use the visit as an opportunity to convince Korea of the safety of its wastewater discharge plan, as well as turning around negative sentiment in Korea on the possible contamination of Japanese food products.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also held a press conference on Tuesday and said, "We will make efforts to deepen understanding of the safety of releasing the ALPS-treated water from the plant through inspections by the Korean team."
During the site visit, the Korean team inspected the ALPS and wastewater tanks at the plant from Tuesday to Wednesday, and will have a Q&A session with local authorities until Friday.
The team, headed by Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, was formed to inspect the nuclear plant following President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's agreement during their summit earlier this month.
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| Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, head of a Korean inspection team sent to Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, talks to reporters in Fubata, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Tuesday. Yonhap |
While Tokyo is seeing the inspection as an opportunity to convince Seoul of the discharge plan's safety and bring up the lifting of import bans on seafood from Fukushima, the Korean government has been saying that the seafood issue is a separate matter from the wastewater one.
"There is a significant amount of contaminated water that entered the waters off Fukushima during the incident, particularly affecting seafood," Foreign Minister Park Jin said during a National Assembly meeting, Wednesday. "We have no plans to lift the import ban unless the concerns and anxieties of our citizens are addressed."
In an interview with broadcaster TV Chosun a day earlier, Park said the seafood issue "should follow objective and scientific standards separate from the matter of processing the contaminated water."
However, concerns are growing that Japan will double down on its diplomatic efforts to lift seafood import bans, given the case of Taiwan.
Taiwan imposed a blanket import ban on Fukushima food after the nuclear plant accident in 2011. However, the country in February 2022 lifted the ban as it sought Tokyo's support for Taipei's bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite strong protest from its main opposition party.
Given the Yoon administration is striving to improve Korea's relations with Japan to seek trilateral security cooperation with the United States, pundits anticipate that the Korean inspection team is unlikely to make a report that would greatly spoil the newly amicable atmosphere between Seoul and Tokyo, and this will naturally result in Japan demanding for Korea to lift the import ban.
Due to this, Korea's official opposition is speaking out against the inspection team's activities in Japan.
"Rather than conducting a thorough inspection, they are hiding away from the media," main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung said, Wednesday.
"Such questionable activities may serve as a justification for Japan's claims, thereby giving a nod to imports of seafood from the Fukushima region."
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