S. Korea aims to fight Japan's Fukushima water plan at tribunal

SEOUL • South Korea's President Moon Jae-in ordered officials yesterday to explore petitioning an international court over Japan's decision to release water from its wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea, amid protests by fisheries and environmental groups.

According to plans unveiled by Japan on Tuesday, the release of more than 1 million tonnes of water into the sea from the plant crippled by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in 2011 will start in about two years after filtering it to remove harmful isotopes.

The plan drew immediate opposition from its neighbours South Korea, China and Taiwan.

South Korea strongly protested against the decision, summoning Mr Koichi Aiboshi, Tokyo's ambassador in Seoul, and convening an intra-agency emergency meeting to craft its response.

Mr Moon said officials should look into ways to refer Japan's move to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, including filing for an injunction, his spokesman told a briefing.

He expressed concerns about Japan's plans as Mr Aiboshi presented his credentials. Japan's ambassador arrived in South Korea in February to take up his post.

"I cannot but say that there are many concerns here about the decision as a country that is geologically closest and shares the sea with Japan," Mr Moon said, asking Mr Aiboshi to convey such worries to Tokyo, according to the spokesman.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it had raised similar concerns with Washington, after the State Department said Japan's decision was "transparent" and in line with global safety standards.

The ministry also said it shared "strong regret and serious concerns" about the water's planned release at a video conference with Chinese officials yesterday.

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.

Japan's nuclear regulator said yesterday that it would bar Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), operator of the wrecked Fukushima plant, from restarting its only operable atomic power station due to safety breaches uncovered last year. Tepco had hoped to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station, the world's biggest atomic power plant with a capacity of 8,212 megawatts, in a quest to slash the utility's operating costs by more than US$800 million (S$1 billion) a year.

REUTERS