The government announced that there was not a single case of nonconformity as a result of radioactivity tests on over 22,000 domestically produced and distributed marine products and sea salt conducted last year.
Song Myeong-dal, Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, said in a daily briefing on the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima, Japan at the Seoul Government Complex on the 5th, “We are working through all stages of the supply of marine products, including production, distribution, and import, so that people can consume our seafood without worrying about safety.” “We have strengthened radiation testing,” he said.
Last year, the government inspected 12,012 cases of fishery products at the production stage (8,474 cases of caught fishery products, 2,271 cases of farmed fishery products, and 1,267 cases of deep-sea fishery products) and 9,880 cases of fishery products at the distribution stage. Sea salt was also inspected twice at 837 operational salt farms across the country.
In addition, as a result of conducting a total of 5,414 radioactivity tests on imported fishery products from Japan last year, it was revealed that not a single fishery product was detected with even trace amounts of radioactivity.
The government has banned the import of all seafood from eight prefectures, including Fukushima, and is conducting radioactivity tests on all seafood produced in other regions upon import.
The government explained that last year, in addition to radioactivity testing for imported seafood from Japan, a total of 28,316 imported foods from Japan were tested for radioactivity, and all of them were found to be suitable.
In addition, as a result of operating the ‘Citizen Application Radioactivity Test’, which allows citizens to directly apply for radiation testing of items they want, 317 out of a total of 650 applications were tested since April 24 last year, and all were found to be suitable.
In order to preemptively monitor radioactivity inflow, the government conducted a pilot survey in April at eight points on the high seas near Japan and monitored marine radioactivity every month from June to October. As a result, the results were much lower than the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water standards. It was found that it was reaped.
Starting in April of this year, we plan to resume surveys at eight points on the high seas near Japan, and also begin surveys on 10 points on the high seas near the newly promoted Pacific Island States.
In addition, a radioactivity test was conducted on live fish trucks arriving from Japan to Korea, and the results were found to be no abnormalities, and a radiation test at 20 representative beaches across the country confirmed that they were at a safe level.
Vice Minister Song said, “The government will continue to put the safety and health of the people as the top priority and strive to more thoroughly manage the safety of our seas and marine products so that the people can feel more reassured.”
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.