S. Korean opposition party leader urges Japanese PM to suspend radioactive wastewater discharge

SEOUL, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The leader of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party sent a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, urging him to suspend the planned discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater.

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party chief, delivered the letter via the Japanese embassy in Seoul on July 28, calling for Kishida to hold off on releasing radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the party spokesman told a press briefing on Monday.

In the letter, Lee expressed South Korean people's concern for and opposition to the discharge plan with five proposals, such as launching a standing consultative body for environmental impact assessment, and finding safe alternatives together through cooperation with the international community.

Despite wide criticism from both home and abroad, the Japanese government has been pushing for discharge of the radioactive wastewater this summer from the Fukushima nuclear power plant hit by a massive earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March 2011.