South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has offered to drink the waste water from Japan’s crippled nuclear reactors after it has been treated, challenging opposition lawmakers to bring the water to him for a public display of consumption.
Han made the remarks at the National Assembly on Monday as critics accused President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government of turning a blind eye to Japan’s plan to release contaminated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean.
“If the waste water is treated in line with the World Health Organization’s potable water standards, I would be willing to drink it,” Han said in response to opposition lawmaker Kim Sung-joo.
Yoon’s ruling People Power Party lawmakers have accused the opposition of fearmongering and exaggerating the health risks from the release, and urged punishments for those spreading rumours.

韩国总理韩德洙提议饮用日本核反应堆处理后的废水，要求反对党议员将水带给他，让他公开饮用。
韩德洙周一在国民议会发表上述言论时，批评人士指责尹锡悦政府对日本受污染的福岛核电站废水排放计划视而不见。
“如果废水处理符合世界卫生组织的饮用水标准，我愿意喝，”韩德洙在回应反对党议员Kim Sung-joo时说。
尹锡悦执政的人民力量党立法者指责反对派散布恐慌和夸大释放带来的健康风险，并敦促对散布谣言的人进行惩罚。

“Judicial authorities would take proper action against such activities if fishermen and others working in the fisheries industry suffer seriously from rumour mongering,” Han said.
While Han traded barbs with opposition lawmakers, some 2,000 people, mostly fishermen, gathered outside parliament to protest and demand other solutions to the discharge of contaminated waste water, such as long-term storage on land.
They also urged the government to file a lawsuit against Japan with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to stop the discharge.
“The government is standing idly by as Japan is wrapping up preparations to discharge contaminated water into the sea,” said Jun O-chong, head of the nation’s fishermen’s association.

“如果渔民和其他从事渔业工作的人受到谣言的严重影响，司法当局将对此类活动采取适当行动，”韩德洙说。
在韩德洙与反对派立法者针锋相对的同时，大约 2,000 人（主要是渔民）聚集在议会外抗议，并要求采取其他解决方案来排放受污染的废水，例如在陆地上长期储存。
他们还敦促政府向国际海洋法法庭对日本提起诉讼，要求停止排放。
“政府正在袖手旁观，因为日本正在准备将受污染的水排入大海，”日本渔民协会会长 Jun O-chong 说。

More than 85 per cent of South Koreans oppose Japan’s plan to release the waste water, according to a survey of 1,000 people last month by local pollster Research View. Seven in 10 respondents said they would consume less seafood if the waste water release went ahead.
“The government is apparently taking up the cudgels for Japan, while seeking to silence fishermen obxting to the planned discharge. But as a Korean saying goes, you can’t hide the sky with your palms. Truth will prevail in the end,” said Lee Ki-sam, a spokesman for a federation of farmers’ associations in South Korea.

根据当地民意测验机构 Research View 上个月对 1000 人进行的一项调查，超过 85% 的韩国人反对日本排放废水的计划。十分之七的受访者表示，如果继续排放废水，他们会减少食用海鲜。
“政府显然是在为日本挺身而出，同时试图让反对排放计划的渔民保持沉默。但是韩国有句俗话，手掌不能遮天。真相最终会占上风，”韩国农民协会联合会发言人 Lee Ki-sam 说。
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The federation plans to send a seven-member team to Japan in a show of solidarity with Japanese fishermen who are planning a June 20 protest in Fukushima, he said.
The discharge issue is one of several that critics accuse the Yoon government of trying to gloss over as it seeks closer ties with Japan and the United States.

他说，该联合会计划派遣一个七人小组前往日本，以声援计划于 6 月 20 日在福岛举行抗议活动的日本渔民。
批评人士指责尹锡悦政府在寻求与日本和美国建立更密切的关系时，试图掩盖的几个问题之一就是排放问题

“The government wants to put aside these issues that it sees as hindrances to a tighter alliance with Japan,” said Choi Kyoung-sook, who works with NGOs campaigning against the waste water discharge.
One of Yoon’s key presidential campaign promises was to boost the country’s nuclear power generation by building new plants and authorising the extension of ageing reactors.
Yoon reversed his predecessor Moon Jae-in’s policy of phasing out nuclear reactors in favour of renewable energy, as he vowed to revive and turn the nuclear power industry into a key export sector.
“The government is worried that civil agitations concerning the Fukushima disaster would take the shine off Yoon’s pro-nuclear power policy ahead of the general election next spring,” Choi added.

“政府希望搁置这些问题，认为这些问题会阻碍与日本建立更紧密的联盟，”与反对废水排放的非政府组织合作的 Choi Kyoung-sook 说。
尹锡悦的主要总统竞选承诺之一是通过建造新工厂和授权扩建老化的反应堆来促进该国的核能发电。
尹锡悦改变了他的前任文在寅逐步淘汰核反应堆以支持可再生能源的政策，因为他发誓要重振核能工业并将其转变为一个重要的出口部门。
“政府担心，在明年春天的大选之前，有关福岛灾难的民间骚动会使尹锡悦支持核电的政策黯然失色，”Choi 补充道。
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Ahead of the planned release, some Koreans are stockpiling salt and seafood even as authorities promise to step up monitoring of radioactive substances in salt and other sea products, and to maintain a ban on seafood from Fukushima.
“I worry the release of waste water could not only pollute [the ocean] and lead to health problems but also raise salt and seafood prices,” said 67-year-old Park Young-sil, who was shopping at a market in Seoul.
The 1.3 million tonnes of radioactive waste water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, currently in tanks, is expected to be discharged into the Pacific Ocean this year, even as Asia-Pacific countries, led by the Pacific Island Forum, have voiced strong opposition to the plans.

在计划发布之前，一些韩国人正在储备盐和海鲜，尽管当局承诺加强对盐和其他海产品中放射性物质的监测，并维持对来自福岛的海鲜的禁令。
“我担心废水的排放不仅会污染 [海洋] 并导致健康问题，还会抬高盐和海鲜的价格，”在首尔市场购物的 67 岁的 Park Young-sil 说。
尽管以太平洋岛国论坛(Pacific Island Forum)为首的亚太国家强烈反对这一计划，但目前存放在福岛第一核电站的130万吨放射性废水预计将于今年排入太平洋。