Where is The U.S. headed now?
Five days after the Japanese government began poisoning the well, South Korea’s former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae made her case on her Facebook page. Through her intelligence network, she was able to determine the origin of Japan’s release of contaminated nuclear water, and she made the following claim.
1.When the Cold War system began after the end of World War II, Japan was converted into a military base country under the US-Japan alliance system. That opportunity began with the Korean War. “Japan became a rear base for the U.S. war effort throughout the entire Korean War.” (Nam Ki-jeong, The Birth of a Base State)
2.The Cold War system of the 20th century resulted in nuclear competition, the ultimate weapon. The Pentagon recently reported to Congress that it estimates China will have 700 nuclear warheads by 2027 and 1,000 by 2030. The nuclear competition between the three powers of the US, China, and Russia has begun. Japan is being made into a “nuclear base state,” and the Yoon Seok-yeol government has fallen into a trap.
3.Nuclear armament is pursued until parity and the capability for mutual assured destruction (MAD) are achieved. By allowing Japan, a non-nuclear country, to produce and possess weapons-grade plutonium that the United States does not possess, the goal is to achieve nuclear competitive advantage through Japan, a nuclear base country. When the Rokasho Village nuclear reprocessing facility, which will reprocess 800 tons of uranium produced annually, becomes operational next year, the country will become the world’s largest producer of weapons-grade plutonium. Japan is nominally a nuclear-free country, but in reality it is a nuclear-capable country.
4.With the operation of the Rokasho Village nuclear reprocessing facility, far more ecologically lethal nuclear fission products will be dumped into the sea than the ocean dumping of Fukushima nuclear wastewater. That is why the controversy over the risks of dumping nuclear wastewater in Fukushima must be quickly suppressed. The attitude of the Yoon Seok-yeol government is that it will not be shaken even if all 50 million people in Korea rise up. The production of a promotional video for President Yoon Seok-yeol’s office may also be for that purpose. The U.S. and Japan consider the Chinese government’s total ban on seafood imports as a cost that must be paid for their nuclear competition strategy, and they make a fuss on the outside, but in reality, they do not even bat an eye.
5.Japan’s peace constitution is a mask. The Yoon Seok-yeol government agrees to give up the life and ecology of the Korean people for Japan, a nuclear base country with plutonium capable of producing thousands of nuclear weapons.
6.It is betting everything on the nuclear race gamble. This is a major change in security strategy. We must properly inform how it will help our country’s safety and obtain the consent of the National Assembly and the public.
I was stimulated by this content. The possibility of Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing and fatal radioactive contamination, which had only been heard through hearsay, was almost confirmed as fact by an influential public figure in Korea. Japan’s atrocities would not have been possible without the help of the United States. As a ‘nuclear base state’, radioactive contamination is a big problem, but does this mean that there has been a change in the position of the United States, which has maintained a nuclear umbrella policy? A big question has been raised. In the past, I thought Trump was a strange president, but in hindsight, the US president itself is a strange position.
Therefore, as soon as I returned to Korea, I prepared an emergency seminar jointly with civil society groups such as the Korean Society for Nuclear Energy, of which I am vice president, and held it in October. ‘Where is The U.S. heading now?’ Under the title, influential figures were invited and a serious discussion was held. Former Minister Choo Mi-ae also attended the event and gave an encouraging speech. Half of the budget invested in this seminar was support received from Japan.
[Emergency Seminar Data Collection] Where is The U.S. headed now?
Takeuchi-san is a local historian who has been involved in the movement against the Hamaoka nuclear power plant for nearly 40 years and has written a book on the history of the movement. He also announced to the media that around 2014, Chubu Denryoku, the owner of the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, had implemented a budget that appeared to ‘buy’ residents in order to restart the nuclear power plant. This was a major incident that exposed the absurdities surrounding nuclear power plants.
I stayed for three days at Takeuchi-san’s house near Tenryukawa Station in Shizuoka. For three days, his house became the base camp for the walking march.
Takeuchi-san picked me up in his vehicle during his daytime break and went to the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant. The nuclear power plant is currently out of operation.
Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, which is currently being reviewed for restart, uses MOX fuel (Mixed OXide fuel) containing plutonium, the same as the Fukushima Unit 3 model. MOX is a type of nuclear fuel obtained by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and usually consists of 95% uranium oxide and 5% plutonium oxide. MOX fuel is not only dangerous, it is fundamentally misdirected.
Dr. Kang Jeong-min’s argument that nuclear reprocessing to make plutonium can only be viewed as the production of raw materials for nuclear weapons production is persuasive. Dr. Kang, a doctoral graduate from the University of Tokyo, studied this issue in the United States and also served as chairman of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission in Korea.
[Kang Jeong-min] “Plutonium recycling, which solves the nuclear fuel shortage, will be a nightmare for the world.”
Furthermore, Professor Kim Hae-chang points out that if Japan’s Rokkasho Village aims to be completed next year, an exponential increase in radioactive emissions is inevitable, so the current discharge of contaminated water is an attempt to overcome that problem.
What I noticed while visiting the exhibition hall of Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant is that this area is in an earthquake hazard zone. Accordingly, Takeuchi explained that after the 2011 accident, the nuclear power plant was first shut down during the time of then Prime Minister Kannaoto. Indeed, the appearance of the faults on the sea floor is clearly marked on Google Maps.
In the Japanese archipelago, numerous nuclear power plants are placed at risk in dangerous earthquake zones. It is said that due to the recent earthquake in the Nodo Peninsula, the nearby Shiga Nuclear Power Plant is in abnormal condition.
When vine plants are left unattended, we often see them encroaching on wide sidewalks. The same goes for power. Power is like a living organism that acts as a hormonal agent and has the property of multiplying indefinitely if not properly checked. The author would like to point out that the root of the chaos that the global community is currently experiencing is that, although the size of power is increasing due to technological development and increased exchange, an appropriate system of checks and control is not in place.
While capital power easily proliferates in an orderly manner through money, the power of the people that checks it is difficult to maintain in a timely manner. In the midst of the chaos, the nuclear power plant mafia and the construction mafia are easily gaining ground. By destroying our one and only Earth.
What I learned in the process of writing my journal at this time was the traces of a person named Park An-gi, who introduced astronomy to Japan during the time of the Joseon Tongsinsa in the Seikenji temple collection. Chiljeongsan Mountain, which appears in the temple records, is an astronomy compiled by studying Chinese astronomy centered on Seoul during the reign of King Sejong. This is said to have had an impact on China as well.
In this way, culture develops synergistically through exchange. At a time when all information is open and even ordinary citizens are aware of the actual situation, the Japanese government’s act of distorting information about contaminated water and using its power to propagate this is truly foolish. It’s like trying to cover the sky with the palm. The Japanese government is repeating the Kanto Massacre of 100 years ago in a different form.
Chosun Ilbo (ChoSun Daily Newspaper) and Yoon Seok-yeol, who propagate by copying the Japanese government, are even worse. People have already experienced the taste. The thrilling experience of kicking out Park Geun-hye. The fate of Yoon Seok-yeol and Chosun Ilbo unfolds before my eyes.
“The sea is the source of life”
In response to my march, comrades in Fukushima will take action from September 6th to 11th. After moving to each section by public transportation, the march takes place on foot in major cities. They say they will march while promoting the news of my 1,600 km march. We will act together in Tokyo on the 11th. What a touching performance of solidarity!
Edited by: Wonyoung Lee, Guest Editor
(The author, Wonyoung Lee, is a former professor at the University of Suwon, who led a Korean-Japan citizen walking march to stop the discharge of radioactive contaminated water for about three months from June to September 2023. This article and photos are a record of that story.)
Wonyoung Lee, Guest Editor leewysu@gmail.com
Translation by yoonhwa Cha
Categories: Korean-Japanese citizen walking march
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