S. Korea, Japan to hold director-general-level consultations over Fukushima plan Tuesday

▲ Park Ku-yeon (C), the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, participates in a daily briefing on the Fukushima wastewater issue at the government complex in Seoul on July 24, 2023. (Yonhap)

S Korea-Japan-Fukushima

S. Korea, Japan to hold director-general-level consultations over Fukushima plan Tuesday

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, July 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Japan will hold a director-general-level meeting later this week to discuss Seoul's requests regarding Tokyo's plan to discharge contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, an official said Monday.

The two sides will hold the talks in Japan on Tuesday to discuss follow-up measures to the results of a bilateral summit held on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, earlier this month, according to Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

During the summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on July 12, Yoon asked Tokyo to include South Korean experts in monitoring the planned release of the water. Yoon also asked that the discharge be stopped immediately if the concentration of radioactive material in the water exceeds standard levels, and that Japan promptly inform South Korea.

Park said South Korean officials will present four proposals based on the Seoul government's scientific analysis to Japanese officials during the talks.

"The talks will involve the level of cooperation, even if it may not be at the perfect level," Park told a daily briefing on the Fukushima issue.

The two countries previously held working-level discussions on the Fukushima wastewater issue in Seoul in May.

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