Korea, Japan discuss inspection of Fukushima nuclear plant in working-level meeting

Korea and Japan held a working-level meeting in Seoul on Friday afternoon to discuss Korea's inspection of the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant later this month.

Government officials from Korea and Japan participate in a working-level meeting to discuss Seoul’s inspection of the Fukushima nuclear power plant at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Jongno District, central Seoul on Friday. [YONHAP]

Korea and Japan held a working-level meeting in Seoul on Friday afternoon to discuss Korea's inspection of the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant later this month.

The meeting began at 2 p.m. on Friday and ended about 12 hours later, Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, lasting much longer than the initial prediction of four to five hours, alluding to fierce wrangling between the two sides.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday that both sides agreed the Korean delegation would visit Japan for four days for the inspection and discuss further specifics as soon as possible.

Korea’s side was represented by Yun Hyun-soo, director-general for climate change, energy, environmental and scientific affairs at the Foreign Ministry. Other members included officials from the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and Ministry of Science and ICT.

Japan’s side was led by Atsushi Kaifu, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department. Other members included Keiichi Yumoto, director general for nuclear accident disaster response in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and officials from the Nuclear Regulation Authority and Tokyo Electric Power.

In the days running up to the meeting, Seoul and Tokyo appeared to be in disagreement over the nature of the inspection.

The Korean government has highlighted the inspection to be aimed at checking whether Japan’s treatment facilities were working safely and properly at the power plant.

Tokyo, on the other hand, has stressed that the Korean inspection was meant to “help deepen understanding” about the safety of the wastewater release, “not to evaluate or certify the safety of the treated water,” according to remarks from Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry on Tuesday.

Even on the Friday working-level meeting, while the Korean government called it a "director-general-level consultation," the Japanese government called it a "briefing session" Tokyo was providing Seoul.

On Friday morning, Korea’s prime minister’s office told local reporters in a briefing that the purpose of the inspection was to “review” the safety of the overall discharge process.

"We plan to check the operation status of the wastewater treatment and discharge facilities and [Japan’s] capacity for radioactive substance analysis, while securing the information needed for our scientific and technical analysis [of the wastewater]," said Park Gu-yeon, first vice minister of government policy coordination.

Park, however, emphasized that the Korean experts won’t be collecting samples to analyze the safety of the wastewater.

“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the official verification body responsible for collecting and analyzing samples [of the wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear power plant],” said Park.

“Korea is a member of the IAEA team, so it’s technically already participating in the analysis process.”

If Korea goes out of its way to separately collect samples, it could “undermine trust” in the IAEA, Park continued.

“Despite [the situation], the Korean government still has a responsibility to ensure the safety of its citizens, which is why we are conducting additional confirmation,” said Park. The inspection team “will certainly gather information, ask questions and check facilities to assess safety.”

Regarding the size of Korea’s inspection team, the official said it could probably be around 20 members, and composed of top experts in the field of safety regulation.

It is unlikely that any private-sector experts or representatives from civic groups will be able to join the inspection, Park noted.

“The Japanese government considers the dispatch of the inspection team as a government-to-government, national-level issue, and therefore, is still negative about participation from the private sector,” said Park.

The official said it will also be “difficult” for Korean media to accompany the team, as the inspection involves accessing areas that are usually not open to the public.

The decision to allow a group of Korean experts into the country to inspect the site was announced after a recent summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul.

Kishida reciprocated Yoon's visit to Tokyo in March, becoming the first Japanese prime minister to conduct a bilateral visit to Seoul in 12 years.

Seoul and Tokyo have been at odds over the Fukushima wastewater issue for years, ever since the Japanese government announced plans in 2021 to gradually release tons of treated, but radioactively contaminated, water from the wrecked power plant into the sea.

Despite fierce opposition from fishing communities at home and abroad, Japan insisted it was an unavoidable step to eventually decommission the plant, a process that could take three to four decades.

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, has said that all radioactive materials have been removed from the water except tritium, which experts say is not harmful to human health in small amounts.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]