A civic group stages a rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Jung District, Seoul, Wednesday, in protest of Japan's plan to start releasing treated radioactive wastewater from its Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



The Korean government's measures for monitoring Japan's planned release of treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant are drawing criticism, as Seoul has compromised on initial demands to ensure the safety of its people.



The government is promising to "double and triple its efforts to prevent any adverse impact on public health." But civic groups and the opposition expressed more concern and doubts on Wednesday, a day before Tokyo's planned release of the wastewater begins.



The government, Tuesday, announced a series of agreements with Japan addressing Korea's safety concerns. The two sides have been consulting with each other over this issue since the summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last month.



The Korean government had initially asked for a series of monitoring measures, including having Korean experts stationed at the release site. However, a proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was accepted instead, allowing Korean experts to visit the site regularly but not to be permanently stationed there.



"We understand that it is difficult to have Korean experts stationing at the site, given the (issue of) fairness with other countries and other projected consequences," said Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination.



"The government believes the IAEA's proposal is an effective monitoring measure, comparable to dispatching experts. We think this is a gesture of good faith from Japan and we have no plans to further raise the issue of having experts stationed (there)."



The compromises reached between Korea and Japan include setting up "communication hotlines" and Japan's promise to publish release-related data every hour online. However, concerns remain about how often Korean experts will be able to visit the site and the extent of their monitoring ability.



Along with dispatching Korean experts, only two out of four technical stipulations that the Korean government delivered to Japan were agreed upon.



Of them, Japan promised to plan with Korea's demands; for re-conducting radiation assessments in the case of changes in source terms (types and amounts of radioactive material released to the environment following an accident); and assessing residents' radiation exposure based on actual nuclide emissions.



However, Tokyo postponed discussions on shortening the period of the inspection cycle of the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) filters and adding five additional radionuclides for the annual concentration measurements of the ALPS inlet and outlet.



Despite the compromises, Park said, "We have secured an effective and multi-layered monitoring system meeting Korea's demands."





Employees of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) check samples of wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Tuesday, with wastewater release set to begin Thursday. Courtesy of TEPCO