STORY: S. Korean fishermen clamor against Japan's radioactive wastewater discharge
DATELINE: June 13, 2023
LENGTH: 0:01:47
LOCATION: Seoul
CATEGORY: POLITICS/ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1.  various of protest rally conducted by South Korean fishermen
2.  SOUNDBITE (Korean): KIM KWANG-SHIK, Protester
3.  various of protest rally

STORYLINE:

About 2,000 South Korean fishermen and civic activists gathered on Monday near the parliamentary building in Seoul to clamor against Japan's planned discharge of radioactive wastewater from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

SOUNDBITE (Korean): KIM KWANG-SHIK, Protester
"I am a fisherman from Yeosu, (Jeollanam-do). This is a bad thing, I know, and I think all people in the country also know it. If the Fukushima contaminated water is safe (as Japan claimed), it can be left in Japan's soil rather than be released into the ocean, I think. If the South Korean government is concerned about fishermen, it should prevent Fukushima contaminated water from being discharged into the sea. That's what I want to tell everyone."

The association of the fishermen said in a statement that the Japanese government should come up with solutions, including a long-term storage on land, rather than dump the radioactive water that will destroy all life in the Pacific Ocean and all fishermen living on it.
   
The association urged the South Korean government to immediately file a complaint with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea against Japan, saying that if the contaminated water is released, it will threaten the livelihood of fishermen amid a sharp drop in demand for marine products.
   
According to a Research View survey of 1,000 South Korean adults conducted last month, 85.4 percent of the respondents opposed Japan's contaminated water discharge, and 72 percent said they would reduce the consumption of marine products if the wastewater is released into the ocean.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Seoul.
(XHTV)