The three opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, the Basic Income Party, and the Progressive Party, held a rally in downtown Seoul over the weekend to condemn the discharge of contaminated water from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant.
On the 2nd, in front of the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, they held the ‘2nd national rally to stop ocean dumping of Fukushima nuclear contaminated water and condemn the Yoon Seok-yeol government’ along with the ‘Joint Action to Stop Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Contaminated Water in Japan’ in which 93 civic groups participated. This is the second consecutive large-scale weekend outdoor rally following the first on the 26th of last month. A number of Democratic Party members, including leaders including Representative Lee Jae-myung, floor leader Park Kwang-on, Supreme Council members Park Chan-dae, Seo Young-kyo, and Jeong Cheong-rae, Secretary General Cho Jung-sik, and Policy Committee토토사이트 Chairman Kim Min-seok, who was on his third day of fasting, attended.
Representative Lee, who went on stage holding a sign that read, “Condemn the Yoon Seok-yeol regime,” said, “If a foreign country invades the Republic of Korea’s territory and maritime sovereignty, don’t you want a president who can confidently say, ‘This is not right, stop releasing water?’ “He said. He continued, “Even though we may not have achieved the country we dreamed of, we must prevent the country from regressing to the past.”
Organizers estimated 50,000 people participated in the rally that day, and police estimated 6,000 people. They held signs saying, “Withdraw Japan from dumping nuclear contaminated water,” and chanted slogans such as “The Yoon Seok-yeol government should sue Japan to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea” and “We condemn the Yoon Seok-yeol government, which represents the Japanese government.” The joint action stated that the Yoon Seok-yeol government “is in fact endangering public safety by showing its stance in favor of dumping contaminated water,” and added, “We gathered to add our voices to condemn this and to completely ban the import of Japanese seafood.”
Kim Sam-ho, senior vice president of the Wando-gun Association of Korean Fisheries Managers, who is from Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do, said, “If the government does not completely ban the import of Japanese seafood, please join the boycott of all Japanese products.” Byung-seop Han, director of the Nuclear Safety Research Institute, said, “(The Korean government) is not properly reviewing the contents of the Japanese government’s report and is taking unscientific procedures to justify discharging contaminated water.” He added, “Science that cannot be explained by the public’s common sense is meaningless.” “There is none,” he claimed.
At the rally, the band ‘Even Broccoliner’ also went on stage and sang songs such as ‘Graduation’. Vocalist Yoon Deok-won said, “It is questionable whether contaminated water that can be easily treated needs to be released into the ocean by surprise,” and added, “Korea should not aid and abet the discharge of contaminated water for any reason.” After finishing the rally, the participants marched through Seoul Station to the War Memorial of Korea near the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu.
Meanwhile, the Justice Party, which attended the first rally last week, held a separate speech to stop the water discharge near Balsan Station and Hwagok Station in Gangseo-gu.