South Koreans’ rejection of Japan’s Fukushima water release plan puts Yoon’s bid for improved Tokyo ties to the test

Seoul says it ‘respects’ the UN nuclear watchdog’s safety review, but some eight out of 10 South Koreans are opposed to Japan’s release plan

A request from Yoon for Tokyo to consider the Korean public’s concerns is likely to be interpreted as ‘tacit approval’ of the plan, said one academic

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South Koreans protest on Saturday against Japan’s planned release of treated radioactive waste water from the Fukushima power plant. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:00pm, 11 Jul 2023Updated: 4:54pm, 11 Jul 2023

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol is walking a political tightrope, analysts say, as he attempts to calm growing public hostility over Japan’s plan to dump treated radioactive water into the sea while also trying to mend diplomatic ties with Tokyo.

Yoon has so far remained silent over the issue, which has become a political hot potato, but he will soon face the moment of truth when he meets Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of a Nato summit in Lithuania this week.

Kishida is expected to use the meeting – his second with Yoon in two months – to explain the safety of the planned release of the treated water from the wrecked Fukushima power plant and call for Seoul’s cooperation.

“The government’s basic stance is that priority must be given to public health and safety. If Japan raises this issue, [Yoon’s] remarks will be made in accordance with this principle,” said a senior official in the presidential Blue House last week, asking not to be named.

An aerial view of the storage tanks for treated water at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Photo: Kyodo via Reuters

Within weeks, Japan is set to start releasing more than a million tons of treated radioactive water currently being stored at the crippled nuclear power plant north of Tokyo. Much of it had been used to cool the reactors that were destroyed by a 2011 earthquake and tsunami.