Eight out of 10 South Koreans reduced the amount of fish they eat over possible safety concerns associated with a leak of radioactive water from Japan’s Fukushima plant, a poll showed Monday.
An online poll released by the Korea Rural Economic Institute found that 77.5 percent of those questioned said they reduced their fish consumption by nearly half since August.
The institute said it questioned 521 people between Oct. 18 and Oct. 20, and the survey has a margin of error of 3.81 percentage points.
The poll is the latest reminder of lingering public concerns over the safety of fish products despite the government’s recent announcement that it has found no trace of radioactive materials in any fish or marine products recently caught in the country’s neighboring seas.
South Korea has significantly intensified its radiation watch after Japan’s nuclear power plant operator acknowledged that radioactive water has been and continues to be leaking following the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011.
South Korea has placed an import ban on all fishery products from Fukushima and seven other adjacent prefectures in Japan. (Yonhap News)
