More than 10 people have been arrested for trying to enter the Japanese embassy in Seoul during a demonstration against the discharge of water from Fukushima into the sea, police told AFP.
“More than 10 people were arrested for trying to force their way into the embassy,” said a police officer who was at the scene.
A small group of protesters had gathered in front of the embassy, holding up signs that read slogans such as “The ocean is not Japan’s trash can.”
According to the South Korean agency Yonhap, sixteen people, all students, were arrested for the attempted break-in.
The students “attempted to enter the embassy around 1 p.m. (4 a.m. GMT) and shouted slogans condemning the radioactive water discharges” and were arrested by police, the agency continued.
As an AFP journalist observed, the other demonstrators were all dispersed and shortly after the incident, police denied entry to the building where the embassy was located.
Seoul has publicly supported Tokyo’s decision to divert contaminated water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant starting Thursday.
“I call on the Japanese government to transparently and responsibly release information on releases over the next 30 years,” South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Thursday.
He also denounced “misinformation” and demagogy about Japan’s decision.
In South Korea, some demonstrations condemned the discharge of Fukushima waters into the sea, which was strongly denounced by the Democratic Party (opposition).
On Thursday, Japanese authorities activated pumps and valves for an initial leak. This is expected to last around 17 days and affect around 7,800 m3 of water from the plant, which contains tritium, a radioactive substance that is only dangerous in high concentrations.