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'We Talk': ROK residents: Japan's nuclear wastewater dumping plan harms the innocents
Updated 22:17, 29-May-2023
Global Stringer
03:25

The Japanese government announced in January that its controversial plan to release radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the country's northeast into the Pacific Ocean would be initiated "in the spring or summer."

However, Japan's attempts to seek backing from the G7 countries on the discharge plan seemed to fail at the G7 summit held in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The summit's joint statement did not include any endorsement of the plan. Instead, it said that the G7 group supports the "IAEA's independent review" to ensure that the discharge will be conducted consistent with IAEA safety standards. The voices of opposition and skepticism from both inside and outside Japan have been rising.

Residents in the Republic of Korea (ROK) took to the streets in Seoul on May 26 for a signature collecting campaign against the Japanese government's releasing plan. They told CGTN that the Japanese government's decision was made too hastily and that it would cut off seafood consumption on a large scale, dealing a heavy blow to the fishery industry. "I can't understand why they would inflict harm on innocent people," one local resident said.

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