South Korea’s Presidential Office Demands Apology from Opposition for Spreading False Rumors about Japanese Wastewater
Seoul, August 23, 2024 – The South Korean Presidential Office has strongly condemned the opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, for spreading false rumors about the treated radioactivewastewater released from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. The office insists that the wastewater release has been scientifically proven safe and that the opposition’s claimsare baseless.
The statement comes a year after Japan began releasing the treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, a move that has sparked widespread concern and protests in South Korea. The opposition party has been vocal in its criticism of the Japanese government’s decision, claiming that the wastewater poses a serious threat to the environment and human health.
However, the Presidential Office, citing scientific evidence, has repeatedly maintained that the wastewater is safe. The release of treated wastewater from theFukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been ongoing for a year now, and from a scientific standpoint, there have been no abnormal situations, said Jung Hye-jeon, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, during a press conference at the Yongsan Presidential Office. The so-called ‘Fukushima rumors’ spread by theopposition party are nothing but lies, lacking any scientific basis.
Jung further emphasized that the government has conducted over 49,600 tests on water samples collected from domestic waters and the open sea, and none of the results have exceeded safety standards. If the opposition party had not spread absurd rumors like ‘nuclear waste’ and ‘the second Pacific War,’ the government wouldn’t have had to spend 1.6 trillion won (approximately 8.5 billion yuan) on this process, Jung stated. If the opposition party had trusted scientific evidence and focused on politics for the people’s livelihood, this huge sumcould have been used for vulnerable groups in society.
The Presidential Office also highlighted that despite the opposition’s claims, the public has remained largely unconcerned, with sales of seafood at major supermarket chains exceeding previous years. Imports of Japanese seafood have also increased compared to last year, indicating a positive trend in seafood consumption.Fortunately, the public is wise and trusts science and the government, Jung said. However, the opposition party, instead of apologizing for their actions, continues to engage in inflammatory rhetoric, making unfounded, illogical, and irresponsible statements.
The Presidential Office urged the opposition party to stop spreading divisive rumors and to apologize tothe public. We hope that the opposition party, after the mad cow disease and THAAD electromagnetic wave rumors, will stop inciting division among the people and apologize to the public, Jung concluded.
This latest development further intensifies the political battle surrounding the Japanese wastewater release. The opposition party has accused the government of prioritizingits relationship with Japan over the safety of its citizens. The government, in turn, has accused the opposition of using the issue for political gain, spreading fear and misinformation among the public.
The debate over the wastewater release is likely to continue, with both sides presenting their arguments and evidence. It remains to be seen whetherthe opposition party will apologize as demanded by the Presidential Office, and how the public will react to the ongoing controversy.
【来源】https://cn.yna.co.kr/view/ACK20240823002500881?section=politics/index&input=rss
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