SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) — South Korea is taking proactive steps to allay public fears concerning Japan’s release of contaminated water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean by expanding its emergency seawater radiation tests. Cho Seung-hwan, Seoul’s oceans minister, revealed that the country will be adding more coastal spots to its existing list of 75 locations in the east, west, and south, as well as Jeju Island, to further ensure safety.
Officials work to collect samples of seawater in waters near the southern port city of Busan on Sept. 18, 2023, to measure the radiation levels of the water amid public concern about Japan's release of radioactive water from the Fukushima power plant into the ocean. (Yonhap)
Cho Seung-hwan remarked that the spots were chosen due to the expectation that the released waters would arrive first due to sea currents. In addition to the 75 spots in territorial waters, South Korea has been conducting radiation tests on 33 points from more distant areas, and it plans to raise the number of testing spots to nearly 250 next year.
An expert of Korea Marine Environment Management Corp. explains seawater radiation tests on Sept. 14, 2023. (Yonhap)
The minister further noted that the government is maintaining the emergency testing system until the people are no longer worried about the issue and say no more tests are required. All the samples have met the safety standards so far, and no radiation has been detected in domestic seafood or imported marine products. South Korea has also been conducting a 100-day intensive inspection from August into the marking of country of origin for imported seafood products to dispel public safety concerns.
In August, South Korean imports of Japanese seafood fell 34.8 percent from the previous year to US$7.81 million, the smallest monthly figure in two years, according to government data. South Korea banned all seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures near Fukushima in 2013 on concerns over their radiation levels in the wake of the meltdown incident in 2011, and vowed to keep in place the import curbs.
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