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8 in 10 Koreans worried about Fukushima wastewater release plan [1]
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Date: 2023-06-11
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a national financial strategy meeting at the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Nearly 80 percent of Koreans have expressed concern that the radioactive water to be released from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant could contaminate the ocean and fishery products, a new survey showed, Friday.
In the Gallup Korea poll of 1,007 adults aged 18 and over conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, 78 percent of respondents said they were worried about the possible ocean and seafood contamination to be caused by Japan's planned discharge of the wastewater containing tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The plant was devastated by a tsunami triggered by an offshore earthquake in March 2011.
In particular, nearly half ― 49 percent ― of those who gave a positive assessment of President Yoon Suk Yeol's performance in the survey expressed concerns over Japan's planned release of the wastewater.
Amid growing concerns among the public over the Fukushima water discharge plan, the approval ratings of President Yoon have remained in the range of 30 percent for two consecutive months.
In the latest survey, positive assessment of Yoon's performance stood at 36 percent, while his disapproval rating was 56 percent.
The positive assessment stayed the same as the previous week, while the disapproval rating decreased by 1 percentage point.
"There have been no particular events that could make changes in the public's attitude toward the president," an official from Gallup Korea said.
In the poll, 22 percent cited diplomacy as the key factor in their negative assessment of the president, followed by the Fukushima issue at 11 percent and economic concerns at 9 percent.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday that the country's Nuclear Regulation Authority officials began inspecting the performance of a newly completed system to release the wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
After this inspection, nuclear regulators plan to put together a report on the results within the first week of July.
Once a certificate is issued to Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the power plant, the system will be ready to operate, according to NHK.
The Japanese government is expected to push ahead with its plan to begin discharge of the water around summer time, unless a final report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) raises significant questions.
According to Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper, the IAEA is expected to issue its final report on and around July 4.
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[1] Url:
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/06/113_354017.html
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