SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) — South Korean activists and politicians on Tuesday condemned Japan’s choice to begin dumping nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy plant into the ocean later this week.
A bunch of inexperienced activists gathered close to the Japanese embassy in Seoul, shouting slogans of “Dead against Japan’s maritime release of nuclear-contaminated wastewater,” and “Immediately retract the maritime discharge decision.”
Against the backdrop of placards that learn “Dead against the maritime discharge,” Lee Jeong-yun, president of the Nuclear Power Safety and the Future group, mentioned that Fumio Kishida turned the primary Japanese prime minister to grant the dumping of radioactive wastewater into worldwide waters for the reason that 1972 London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter.
The activist famous that Kishida will go down in historical past as a reputation tainted with the nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping performed by Japan.
It is against the law to dump nuclear-contaminated wastewater, mentioned Lee, urging the Japanese authorities to withdraw its ocean discharge plan, actively perform worldwide cooperation and decide to maintaining nuclear-contaminated wastewater on land.
The Japanese authorities introduced earlier within the day that it determined to begin discharging the Fukushima nuclear wastewater on Thursday regardless of huge criticism from each dwelling and overseas.
Hit by a large earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March 2011, the Fukushima energy plant suffered core meltdowns and generated a large quantity of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear gas.
“The decision to dump nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean, made by Japan that has no interest in the responsibility as a global citizen or moral conscience as an advanced country, resembles Japan’s militaristic aspiration in the past without any interest in human rights and human dignity,” mentioned Ha Ju-hui, secretary-general of MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society.
Ha mentioned Tokyo made the choice in clear violation of such worldwide legal guidelines because the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, expressing severe considerations that Japan’s discharge might open a brand new path of historical past permitting different nations to disregard worldwide legal guidelines and take no accountability for injury to the surroundings, the ocean, and humankind.
Following the protest rally of the civic activists, over 20 lawmakers of the principle opposition Democratic Party held a separate press convention close to the Japanese embassy, harshly condemning the wastewater discharge choice.
“In what capacity do they throw nuclear waste into the ocean, a common asset of all humankind? What qualifications do they have? The ocean is a common resource for humankind, and water is the source of life. All humankind must live on it in the future,” Woo Won-shik, a Democratic Party lawmaker, instructed the press convention.
“Japan, which decided to fill it with nuclear waste, will go down in history as the worst country and be condemned by all humankind,” mentioned Woo.
Democratic Party lawmakers individually staged a rally towards the Japanese authorities on the parliamentary constructing.
During the rally, Democratic Party chief Lee Jae-myung mentioned Japan ultimately declared the “worst environmental destruction” by deciding to dump the nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean with out scientific verification, with out the understanding of neighboring international locations, and even with out the consent of Japanese individuals.
Strongly denouncing Japan’s reckless choice, Lee vowed to do all the pieces to cease wastewater dumping by means of anti-dumping actions throughout the nation and cooperation with the worldwide group.