SEOUL, South Korea urged the international society to discuss Japan’s plan to discharge radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean at this week’s international maritime gathering, the oceans ministry said Saturday.
The Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown in 2011 has spread heavy safety concerns among nearby countries.
The South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Tokyo’s disposal of radioactive water may have a serious impact on the health, safety and ecosystem of neighboring nations, during the weeklong 44th London Convention and the 17th London Protocol that ended Friday.
The South Korean government has brought the Fukushima discharge agenda to London since 2019.
Japan has refuted Seoul’s call, claiming the discharge of radioactive water from nuclear power plants should not be seen as an act of marine dumping.
The London Convention promotes the effective control of all sources of marine pollution and takes steps to prevent marine pollution by human activities. South Korea joined the convention in 1993.
The London Protocol calls for banning all dumping, with some exceptions. It has 53 signatories, including South Korea which joined it in 2009.
Earlier in August, the United Nations-specialized International Marine Organization (IMO) decided that the Fukushima discharge agenda is appropriate to be discussed in London, with mutual agreement of the members involved.
At the IMO convention, the South Korean oceans ministry said the members should discuss ways to safely dispose the contaminated water from the Fukushima power plant, actively exchange information and monitor the situation.

Source: Yonhap News Agency