A radioactivity test is in progress on Japanese scallops at a seafood market in the southern city of Daegu on Aug. 28, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 7 out of every 10 South Koreans are opposed to Japan’s release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, a public opinion poll showed Friday.
The survey conducted on 1,000 South Korean adults on Tuesday and Wednesday by Research View showed 72.4 percent objecting to the discharge, while 20.4 percent were in support.
Two civic groups, the Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health and the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, commissioned and released the poll.
On Aug. 24, Japan began discharging the radioactive water, which has been stored at the nuclear power plant since three nuclear reactors melted down in the wake of a powerful earthquake in March 2011, into the ocean.
The survey showed 74.1 percent of the women polled were opposed to the release, while the corresponding rate among male respondents was 70.7 percent.
The objection rate was the highest among people in their 40s at 80.9 percent, while people from Gangwon Province and Jeju Island had the highest opposition rate of 81.8 percent.
Slightly over 61 percent of the respondents who identified themselves as conservative said they oppose the discharge, while the corresponding rate was 83.8 percent for progressives and 73.8 percent among people who identified themselves as being in the middle.
A total of 78.3 percent of the respondents said the South Korean government should ban imports of all seafood from Japan.
(Yonhap)
