Korea, import radioactive Fukushima fish, WTO demands

This Associated Press video says about itself:

31 July 2015

South Korea is banning imports of all fishery products from Japan’s Fukushima region because of what it calls growing public worry over radiation-contaminated food that has reportedly prompted a sharp decline in fish consumption.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Friday that it made the move because of Tokyo’s uncertain progress on stopping contaminated water from flowing into the ocean and worries about how the clean-up will advance.

“This measure is due to the public’s growing concerns regarding the fact that hundreds of tons of polluted water, coming from the recent accident scene of Fukushima nuclear disaster, is flowing into the sea everyday”, said government spokesman Shin Joong-don on Friday.

Seoul imposed a partial ban on Japanese fish following the March 2011 earthquake that led to the meltdown of a nuclear reactor in Fukushima.

The new measure now includes all fishery products from Fukushima and seven other nearby Japanese prefectures.

Japan has acknowledged that contaminated underground water has been flowing into the Pacific Ocean.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Saturday, February 24, 2018

WTO tells South Korea to allow in Japanese nuclear fish

SOUTH KOREA said today that it will appeal against a World Trade Organisation (WTO) decision against bans on imports of Japanese fishery products after the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns.

The government said it wanted to protect public health and safety and would maintain its existing regulations on imports of Japanese seafood.

Japan had complained to the WTO about South Korea’s ban, saying it violated WTO rules, was discriminatory and served as a trade barrier.

In 2013, South Korea banned imports of all fishery products from eight Japanese provinces near Fukushima after Tokyo Electric Power reported leaks of radiation-contaminated water.

That tightened restrictions already imposed after the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power station in March 2011, when a tsunami wrecked the plant and caused its reactors to melt down.

It also required inspection certificates for food products from Japan if small amounts of radioactive cesium or iodine were detected.

China also bans seafood and other agricultural products from Fukushima and nine other prefectures, including Tokyo. It requires certificates on foods from the rest of Japan.