Korea protests discharge from Fukushima

SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jaein ordered officials yesterday to explore petitioning an international court over Japan’s decision to release water from its Fukushima nuclear plant, his spokesman said, amid protests by fisheries and environmental groups.

Japan unveiled plans on Tuesday to release more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water into the sea from the plant crippled by a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, starting in about two years after filtering it to remove harmful isotopes.

South Korea strongly protested the decision, summoning Koichi Aiboshi, Tokyo’s ambassador in Seoul, and convening an intraagency emergency meeting to craft its response.

Moon, at a separate meeting yesterday, called for looking into ways to refer Japan’s move to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, including filing for an injunction, his spokesman Kang Minseok said.

Moon also expressed concerns about the decision as Aiboshi presented his credentials, having arrived in South Korea in February for the ambassador’s post.

‘‘I cannot but say that there are much concerns here about the decision as a country that is geologically closest and shares the sea with Japan,’’ Moon said, asking Aiboshi to convey such worries to Tokyo, Kang said.

A series of protests against the move by politicians, local officials, fishermen and environmental activists took place in South

Korea yesterday, including in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul and consulates in the port city of Busan and on Jeju island.

A coalition of 25 fisheries organisations staged a rally and delivered a written protest to the embassy, urging Tokyo to revoke the decision and Seoul to ban imports of Japanese fisheries.

‘‘Our industry is on course to suffer annihilating damage, just with people’s concerns about a possible radioactive contamination of marine products,’’ it said in a statement.

The Pacific Islands Forum is also calling on Japan to rethink its plans for the water from Fukushima.

Forum secretarygeneral Dame Meg Taylor said yesterday that under the provisions of the Treaty of Rarotonga, the region’s leaders were determined to keep the Blue Pacific free of radioactive waste. — Reuters/RNZ