S. Korea, Japan set to hold working-level consultations over Fukushima water

South Korea and Japan are set to hold working-level consultations Tuesday to discuss Seoul's request regarding Tokyo's plan to discharge contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The director-general-level talks will be held in Japan later in the day, with the South Korean side led by Yun Hyun-soo, head of the foreign ministry's bureau for climate change, energy, environment and scientific affairs, and the Japanese side headed by Atsushi Kaifu, director-general of the Japanese foreign ministry's disarmament, non-proliferation and science department.

The meeting comes as part of follow-up measures to the results of a bilateral summit held on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, earlier this month.

During the summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on July 12, Yoon asked Tokyo to include South Korean experts in monitoring the planned release of the water.

Yoon also asked that the discharge be stopped immediately if the concentration of radioactive material in the water exceeds standard levels and that Japan promptly inform South Korea, saying the health and safety of the people should be the top considerations in releasing the water into the sea.

The two countries previously held working-level discussions on the Fukushima water issue in Seoul in May.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has priority in deciding whether to include a South Korean expert on the water monitoring team, but it will require cooperation from the Japanese authorities in making such a decision. (Yonhap)