Korea to restrict imports from Japan’s Fukushima

A protester at an anti-Japan rally stand next to a banner mocking the Japanese Foreign Ministers Taro Kono’s promotional remarks on Fukushima’s food safety

August 4, 2019 By Do Je-hae

The Moon Jae-in administration will tighten its import quota on fishery and agricultural products from Fukushima in Japan in response to Tokyo’s decision to remove Korea from its whitelist of Group A countries that receive preferential trade processing.

A presidential aide said Sunday that if the Japanese Cabinet’s decision to remove Korea from the list takes effect Aug. 28, South Korea will reduce its quota for imports of seafood from Fukushima, which was affected by a nuclear power plant disaster in 2011.

“The Korean government has started to look into controlling the import quota of products from Fukushima,” the aide said asking for anonymity citing the sensitivity of the issue.

The new quota would strengthen control of imports of seafood from Fukushima and the surrounding region, which were introduced by Seoul in the wake of the nuclear disaster due to concerns about radioactive contamination.

The reinforcing of non-tariff measures in response to Japan’s trade offensive is gaining ground after Deputy Prime Minister and Economy and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki stressed that the government would impose measures to protect the “people’s safety.”

This was seen as targeting Japanese food imports from Fukushima following a massive earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the nuclear power plant there.

“Regarding Japan’s latest action, the biggest priority in relation to public safety are the tourism, food and waste sectors. We will announce specific follow-up measures for these after carefully reviewing them,” Hong said.

Observers say that using non-tariff measures can be useful for Seoul in gaining international support in the trade row with Japan, given that the World Trade Organization (WTO) took its side regarding the import of seafood from Fukushima in a ruling in April after a three-year battle.

The ruling in favor of Korea was a blow to the Japanese government, which exerted all-out efforts amid concerns about the safety of Fukushima fishery products. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to promote that it is safe to eat food from Fukushima at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, by pledging to use the area’s food products at the athletes’ village. This campaign has sparked a call among some Korean lawmakers for a boycott of the Tokyo Games.

Other measures being considered by Seoul include removing Japan from its whitelist and tightening controls on exports to Japan. Currently there are 29 countries on Korea’s list of trusted trading partners, including Japan. Seoul is also planning to take Tokyo’s trade restrictions to the WTO.

In addition, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and second deputy director of the presidential National Security Office Kim Hyun-chong have hinted at the possibility of repealing a military information-sharing pact with Japan, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).

“We will sternly carry out corresponding measures against the unfair economic retaliation. If Japan attempts to damage our economy, we will also take reciprocal responses and will strengthen them step-by-step,” President Moon Jae-in said in a rare live televised emergency Cabinet meeting over the weekend.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/08/356_273388.html

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EVENTS

Did You Know about these important public meetings?

1. Thursday, August 22, 2019 from 4 to 5 pm – Joni Arends will be interviewed by Xubi Wilson on KSFR-FM 101.1 “Living on the Edge” show. She will discuss New Mexico, the nuclear weapons industry, and the sacrifices that are continuing to be extolled from the People by that industry everyday and in every way.

2. Thursday, August 22, 2019 from 5:30 to 7 pm – LANL’s Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) public meeting about The Environmental Management Cleanup Forum: Legacy Waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory, at the Santa Fe Community College, 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa Fe.
EM Cleanup Forum Save the Dates_08022019

3. Friday, August 23, 2019 from 9 am to 4:30 pm – New Mexico Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Committee meeting at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos, Wallace Hall, 4000 University Drive, Los Alamos. Presenters include: James C. Kenney, Secretary of the NM Environment Department (NMED); Kelly Beierschmitt, Deputy Director of Operations, LANL; and Santa Fe County Commissioner Anna Hansen about DOE Order 140.1 with Jonathan Plaue, with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Topics include: the 2016 NMED Order on Consent for LANL, and the chromium and co-located perchlorate plume. https://www.nmlegis.gov/Committee/Interim_Committee?CommitteeCode=RHMC

4. Monday, August 26, 2019 from 3 to 5 pm – WIPP draft Five-Year Strategic Plan at the Hotel Santa Fe, 1601 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM. Unfortunately, at posting time, the draft plan is not available for review prior to the meeting.

5. Wednesday, August 28, 2019 from 10:30 – 12:30 – WIPP draft Five-Year Strategic Plan at the Skeen-Whitlock Building, 4021 National Park Highway, Carlsbad, NM.

6. Thursday, August 29th from 11 to 1 pm – Cold War Patriots are hosting a meeting for DOE/NNSA/LANL/Sandia/WIPP workers and former workers about how to navigate the complex EEOICPA and RECA government programs at St. John’s Methodist Church in Santa Fe. https://coldwarpatriots.org/

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