The Tokyo Electric Power Company is facing mounting opposition over its plans to pump 1.3 million tons of contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. The water contains dangerous radionuclides from the 2011 meltdown of three reactors at the site, triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. This week, the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency signed off on the planned release of the wastewater by the plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company. The plan has triggered protests in Japan and in South Korea, where anti-nuclear activists recently staged demonstrations.

Choi Heewon: “I can’t believe that the Japanese government’s plan to release nuclear-contaminated water has gone as far as it has. The impact on our oceans and the rest of the Pacific Rim will be enormous. So I think South Korea and the neighboring countries should work together to postpone the decision on nuclear-polluted water discharge.”