S. Korea dismisses chances of lifting Fukushima seafood import ban

South Korea’s current ban on imports of seafood from Japan’s Fukushima area will remain in place regardless of Japan’s planned release of contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, a senior government official said Friday.

South Korea has banned all seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures near Fukushima since 2013 on concerns over their radiation levels in the wake of the meltdown in 2011.

Some worry the planned discharge of radioactive water from the plant into the sea may ultimately lead to South Korea’s lifting of the ban. Japan plans to begin releasing it as early as this month.

“The main source of concern about Japan’s water release is its potential negative impacts on our sea and our seafood. But the ban on seafood from Fukushima is about the safety of items being caught in the waters off Fukushima. So the planned discharge has nothing to do with the import ban,” Vice Oceans Minister Song Sang-keun said during a press briefing.

Even though the released water is proven to be safe scientifically, that does not guarantee the safety of seafood from the area, Song said, pointing to some cases of seafood from the area being radioactively contaminated.

“The government will not review any lifting of the ban until the Fukushima region is proven to be safe and our people feel safe enough,” he added.

The Seoul government launched a daily press briefing Thursday to keep the public updated on the planned release in response to heightened public concern as the nuclear power plant began the trial operation of its discharge facility.