S. Korea's opposition party slams IAEA report on Fukushima nuke wastewater discharge plan

SEOUL, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Lawmakers of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (DP) have slammed the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) final report on Japan's planned discharge of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific.

According to Yonhap news agency, Woo Won-shik, a DP lawmaker, said at a meeting with visiting IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on Sunday that "(the IAEA's) verification was biased in favor of Japan from the beginning, losing its neutrality and objectivity."

Woo, who has been on a hunger strike for 14 days to protest against the Fukushima wastewater release, said it is very regrettable that (the IAEA) made a conclusion without properly investigating the discharge impact on neighboring nations, making it "self-verification" and "a Japan-tailored investigation."

For his part, Grossi said it is "absolutely logical" that the South Korean public has been paying attention to the issue, and the IAEA would establish a permanent office in Fukushima to closely monitor how the discharge process is implemented over the next three decades.

Grossi faced a group of South Korean protesters near an international airport late Friday night when he arrived in Seoul for a three-day visit.

The IAEA chief also met Yoo Guk-hee, head of South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, and Foreign Minister Park Jin on Saturday, a day before his meeting with DP lawmakers.

The Japanese government has been pushing for dumping the contaminated wastewater this summer from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was hit by a massive earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March 2011.