'Fukushima disaster is nature's last warning'

Director Lee Hong-ki, left, shoots a film during his 2013 visit to Chernobyl, Ukraine, where a catastrophic nuclear accident occurred in April, 1986. He is with a group of Japanese people from Fukushima Prefecture, the site of the 2011 tragedy. / Courtesy of Indieplug Inc.

Director films residents visit to Chernobyl

Director Lee Hong-ki

By Baek Byung-yeul

It has been four years since an earthquake and tsunami left a nuclear power plant leaking radiation in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

The death toll from the catastrophe exceeded 15,000, and more than 2,000 people are still missing. Also, more than 220,000 residents living near the nuclear facility had to flee their homes. Four years later, people whose homes are within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant are still blocked from access to them.

Amid mounting public concerns about nuclear power plants following the disaster, a documentary film, “Fukushima: Is There a Way Out?” hits local theaters Thursday.

In the film, director Lee Hong-ki documented 17 Fukushima residents’ trip to Chernobyl, where a catastrophic nuclear accident occurred in 1986, in order to raise public awareness of the dangers of nuclear power.

In an interview with The Korea Times, the television producer-turned-independent documentary film director stressed, “The Fukushima nuclear disaster was the last warning of our Mother Nature advising us to stop developing nuclear power plants.

“I started to focus on the Fukushima disaster two years after the accident occurred because the media attention on this issue was diminishing. I thought this was the best time to see the actual scene of the accident,” Lee said at a cafe in Gwanghwamun, downtown Seoul, on April 7.

After a year of preproduction, the 54-year-old director interviewed refugees from the disaster and ordinary people. Whether they were directly related to the catastrophe, many of them were managing their everyday lives, still afraid of radiation.

He also met with an investigation team, comprised of 17 people from Fukushima who planned to visit Chernobyl to weigh the future of their hometown.

Though 27 years have passed since the Chernobyl accident, the investigation team and Lee met with victims of radiation poisoning and found a spot that has 300 times more than the permitted maximum exposure to radiation in one of the remaining drainages areas of the nuclear power plant.

“While visiting the scene, I realized that nuclear energy is a no-go thing. I can confidently say there can be no future in an area that’s been the site of a nuclear accident.

“As an experienced director, I have seen a lot of cruel scenes like people dying, but visiting Chernobyl brought me to another level of fear,” Lee said.

After completing filming, Lee said he suffered a year-long mental torment that kept him from living an ordinary life.

“When I was sitting still, I was seized by mixed emotions including anxiety, stress and depression. Now I feel OK, as I had gone through therapy,” he said.

The director added that he learned that it’s time to study how to reduce the use of nuclear energy, saying, “Using nuclear energy is the same as living in an apartment building without a restroom.

“Though we know how to use nuclear energy to generate electricity, we don’t know how to destroy the leftover nuclear fuel,” Lee said.

‘S. Korea not an exception’

At the end of the interview, Lee said he is currently working on a sequel to “Fukushima: Is There a Way Out?”

“Nuclear energy is the biggest energy source of Korea. And this country is planning to add 11 more nuclear power plants by the end of 2024, bringing the total to 34. If this plan is achieved, Korea will be the world’s first in terms of density of nuclear power plants.

“As a person who both visited Fukushima and Chernobyl, I would like to say this may cause a disaster in the future,” Lee said.

“Koreans should know that we are not an exception from nuclear disaster, and this is why I am planning to document a story about nuclear power plants in Korea for my next film.

“As a director, I will also try to convey the problems related to Korea’s nuclear power plants, excluding my own judgment as much as I possibly can,” Lee said.

The 70-minute film was first released in Japan last year.