Democratic Party lawmaker Wi Seong-gon Lee, Won-young Yoon Young-duk, and Jae-gab Yoon, who visited Japan on the 6th to confirm the problem of contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, failed to meet the Tokyo Electric Power executive who manages the nuclear power plant. When TEPCO blocked the TEPCO side by saying, “You cannot enter without prior appointment,” the above lawmakers held a press conference with banners spread on the street, and handed over a request for data related to nuclear power plant contamination to an employee who was watching. The schedule ended at 28 minutes.
The actions of the members of the Democratic Party’s ‘National Assembly visiting group to check the site of contaminated water at the Fukushima nuclear power plant’, who visited Japan for 2 nights and 3 days, were always confused. Meetings with key Japanese politicians, including members of the Japan-Korea Parliamentary Federation, also failed.
On the 7th, they will meet local government council members and refugees from the Great East Japan Earthquake in Fukushima and visit the vicinity of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Earlier on the 5th (local time), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is verifying the treatment process of the contaminated water in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by the Japanese government, evaluated the Japanese authorities’ discharge monitoring system as reliable through an interim report.
Members of the Democratic Party’s visit to Japan met Kazuki Kumamoto, an emeritus professor at Meiji Gakuin University who has been campaigning against nuclear phase-out and reclamation, in a rented conference room in a renovated 17-square-meter studio apartment in Nakano-ku, Tokyo after arriving in Japan that day. You can make reservations for 1,100 to 9,400 won per hour using your smartphone.
He then met Hideyuki Ban, the representative of Japan’s Atomic Energy Information Office, a civic group that campaigns against nuclear power. Representative Ban, who has been interacting with both lawmakers since they were active in the Korea Federation for Environmental Movement, said, “Three days ago, an interpreter called me asking, ‘Do you have time on the 6th?’ I said I had time, so I was notified of the schedule yesterday and we met today. There was no contact from the legislator,” he said.
The location of the press conference has changed several times. They had previously said they would hold a meeting at the Korean Embassy in Japan, but then changed the venue to a meeting room for a civic group in Tokyo, and eventually held an informal meeting in front of the headquarters of TEPCO. An official from the visiting group explained, “The embassy did not cooperate too much.” The embassy expressed disapproval, saying, “There is no precedent for renting a place when only members of a specific party came.” It is said that the civic group meeting room that was initially secured was only available until 4:00 p.m.
“I prepared for a visit to Fukushima since early January, and last week an article saying that I was planning a visit came out and I came to Japan because of that,” said Yang, secretary of Congressman’s office. It means that the actual preparation took about five days.
The highlight of the day’s schedule, a visit to Tokyo Electric Power’s headquarters, also had an incident. Lawmakers initially distributed a notice that they would go to the Shinjuku office of TEPCO. However, this is not the headquarters, but the branch office of Tokyo Electric Power’s transmission and distribution subsidiary ‘Tokyo Electric Power Grid’. I figured it out belatedly and changed the destination to the head office in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo several hours before the visit. The lawmakers arrived, but the guards at TEPCO’s head office refused to open the door, saying they couldn’t enter without prior appointment. A secretary from the visiting delegation’s office said, “During the press conference, I gave a request to a TEPCO employee who was watching the demonstration.”
The previous day, the IAEA announced in its 4th report based on the contents of the field investigation of the contaminated water treatment process of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that “the program established by the Japanese authorities to monitor the environmental impact is reliable and has a sustainable radiation protection system.” We confirmed the point,” he said. The IAEA will release its final report before Japan starts stocking this year.
Rep. Wi said at a press conference that day, “The Japanese experts we met said that they could not be trusted” regarding the IAEA’s evaluation. At the time of the Moon Jae-in administration, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eui-yong Eui-yong said in a government question at the National Assembly in 2021 that “there is nothing to object to if the conditions are established and the suitability procedure that meets the IAEA standards is followed.” .
Ho-young Joo, the power of the people, criticized at the in-hospital countermeasures meeting that day, saying, “It is really pitiful that a person called the national representative is running to Japan while spreading false facts that are no different from fake news.” Japan’s TBS broadcast reported that “there is also criticism from the ruling party that it is an ‘anti-Japanese performance'” while conveying the news of the Democratic Party lawmakers’ visit to Fukushima.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.