Considerable consensus reached in latest S. Korea-Japan talks over Fukushima

▲ Park Ku-yeon (C), the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, speaks in a daily briefing on the Fukushima wastewater issue at the government complex in Seoul on Aug. 8, 2023.

S Korea-Japan-Fukushima

Considerable consensus reached in latest S. Korea-Japan talks over Fukushima

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Considerable consensus was reached during the latest meeting between South Korea and Japan regarding Seoul's requests concerning Tokyo's plan to discharge contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, an official said Tuesday.

The two sides held their second round of director-general-level talks via videoconference Monday to address follow-up measures to President Yoon Suk Yeol's request to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for the inclusion of South Korean experts in monitoring the release of Fukushima water.

"Considerable consensus was reached regarding the specifics of cooperative measures to fulfill what was discussed in the South Korea-Japan summit on July 12," said Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, during a daily briefing on the Fukushima issue.

During the meeting held on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Lithuania, Yoon urged an immediate halt to the discharge if the concentration of radioactive materials in the water exceeds standard levels and called on Japan to promptly inform South Korea.

Park said that another round of working-level talks will be held before reaching a final decision on the extent of cooperation.

"The schedule for the next meeting will be refined through diplomatic channels," Park added.

The two countries previously held their first working-level discussions in Japan on July 25.

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