Crisis in Japan - Effects on Korea - Part 2

The crisis in Japan has continued to be the main event in the news in Korea over the last few days.


The search and rescue efforts in Japan have been made more difficult by bad weather.  But the main topic of news about the crisis has continued to be the nuclear crisis at Fukushima.  Some articles raised doubts about the completeness and the accuracy of the information provided by the Japanese government about the radiation levels near the damaged nuclear reactors and elsewhere in the country, prompting some commentators to demand that Japan reveal the full truth about measured radiation levels.  Some governments have advised their citizens to stay at least 80km away from Fukushima, while the Japanese government has evacuated people within 20km of the plant, and requested that those living between 20km and 30km of the plant stay indoors as much as possible.  This has added to speculation that the Japanese government is not telling the whole truth about the crisis, but a Japanese academic argued today on NHK's internet news broadcast that it is normal for foreign governments to urge greater caution than then the national government when a disaster occurs inside a nation.  The Japanese government has also been criticized for allegedly not accepting an offer of help from the United States, help that arguably could have allowed the government to avert the current crisis at the Fukushima reactor.  It has also been reported that Japan will consider encasing the Fukushima reactors in concrete if this is deemed to be the only way to end the emission of radiation by the radioactive materials that are located there.

As for radiation levels in Japan, they are reported to be higher than normal in Tokyo.  The radiation levels reported can be placed in some context by comparing them to levels described on the Wikipedia entry about the Sievert.  The levels in Tokyo do not appear to be dangerously high.


In Korea, the on-going crisis in Japan has caused more questions to be raised about the potential impact on Korea of a serious radiation leak in Japan.  Generally, it is reported that the impact of such a radiation leak would be slight.

Questions have also been raised about the resilience of Korea's own nuclear power plants to earthquakes.  The government's response has been to reassure the population that Korea's reactors are designed to withstand serious earthquakes, and to re-evaluate the readiness of Japan's nuclear industry to deal with such an event.  The government has also announced that it will make mandatory the use of earthquake resistant construction techniques in more buildings in Korea.  The Korean government has also begun screening airplane passengers from Japan for radiation contamination.

Finally, articles have been published reporting that Japan has asked for help from the Korean government, and this help will be provided.  In a previous post, I mentioned that this was a positive development, as it seems that there is still much resentment in Korea stemming from the colonization of this country by Japan.  However, it is not the first time that Korea and Japan have collaborated in recent years.  About 10 years ago, Korea and Japan jointly hosted the 2002 FIFA world cup soccer tournament.  This remains the only World Cup tournament to have been jointly hosted by two countries.


For real time news updates about the situation in Japan, the English web-site of the NHK broadcasting corporation is a good place to look.  As usual, the Guardian continues to provide extensive coverage.