A man walks past as protesters, including South Korean activists, take part in a rally to protest against the Japanese government's plan to dump Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacifi c Ocean, outside Japan's prime minister's o ce in Tokyo on July 12, 2023. Photo: VCG

In theory, the most concerning issues for a country's citizens should always be the top priority and be safeguarded by their leaders. However, a different story occurred on Wednesday during the NATO summit. In Tokyo, groups from both South Korea and Japan protested together against Japan's plan to dump nuclear-contaminated water into the sea. On the other side of the continent, in Vilnius, Lithuania, leaders of South Korea and Japan held talks on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday.

During the meeting, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol asked for Japan's "real-time sharing of monitoring information" on the dumping of the nuclear-contaminated water and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida affirmed "his dedication to the safe execution of the release plan."

As usual, the two sides discussed the so-called regional security threats and strengthened bilateral cooperation, as well as trilateral cooperation with the US. However, the new consensus on Japan's nuke-contaminated water plan is worthy of attention.

Yoon noted Seoul respects the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) assessment of Japan's release plan. He also requested Japan to let South Korean experts participate in the process of the release of treated wastewater, and make immediate notifications to South Korea in case the concentration of radioactive materials in the contaminated water surpasses tolerable standards. In response, Kishida said Japan will implement "appropriate responses including the immediate halt of the release."

The promise over an "immediate halt" is new. It seemingly both addresses people's concerns from Japan and South Korea, and demonstrates Japan's "sincerity" to improve ties with South Korea. However, it can also be understood as Japan, binding South Korea to its side, made another reassurance to endorse Japan's dumping plan in a fudged way. A promise to South Korea is apparently not enough. Why doesn't Japan also make such guarantee to China and all countries worldwide that could be affected by nuclear pollution? Asked Da Zhigang, a professor at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. 

Reports show the discharge is scheduled to begin as early as August. South Korean shoppers are snapping up sea salt as worry grows about their safety with Japan's dumping plan. Protests over the issue have not ceased. Still, Japanese and South Korean politicians are busy enhancing their military relations with each other, as well as with the US, and NATO, casting a cold eye to the anxiety of their people. 

It is even more unbelievable to see some politicians make a political show out of this with straight faces, Lü Chao, an expert on the Korean Peninsula at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. In 2011, Japan's Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office Yasuhiro Sonoda drank a glass of decontaminated water. "If the waste water is treated in line with the World Health Organization's potable water standards, I would be willing to drink it," South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said in June. 

Since the water is safe enough, why doesn't Japan use the water for its sprinklers, irrigation for farmland? Da asked.  

Japan has been brainwashing people with the theory that dilution is the solution to pollution, with endorsement from its close partners and IAEA, ignoring concerns from experts, quite a few of whom believes that with radiation, every little bit extra is harmful to people. There's no level that one can say this much is fine. 

The one hidden hand behind the scene of this entire drama is the US, which needs Japan-South Korea cooperation to give full play to its Indo-Pacific Strategy. Consequently, politics takes precedence over science, and even over the health of the world's population. Under the command of the US, China, Russia, and North Korea are top challengers and primary "enemies," while everything else takes a back seat, including the real threat - nuclear pollution.

Unfortunately, the thaw between Japan and South Korea is facing hidden undercurrents. Be it dumping plan, historical issues, or even unresolved territorial disputes, public opinion in South Korea is deeply divided. The reconciliation between the two sides is only among political elites, not among the general public. The division of public opinion may lead to a change in South Korea's ruling political power. And contradictions between the two sides can flare up again at any time, Da told the Global Times.

Against the backdrop of a wiser priority for Japan and South Korea is not supposed to be US' strategy, but taking care of the practical interests of their people, repairing divisions among them, fixing structural problems between the two, taking the big picture in East Asia under consideration, rather than pushing their own people to the fore front of nuclear-pollution, while allowing the war machine of NATO to creep toward their soil. They are bringing in uneasiness and chaos to the region, under the guise of peace and stability.