Yoon administration drastically ”cuts” budget for Fukushima treated water investigation = South Korea

The South Korean government of President Yoon Seok-yeol has established a radiation monitoring response team within the Nuclear Safety Commission to deal with the ocean release of "treated water" from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
According to documents obtained by the office of Lee Jung-hong, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Nuclear Safety Commission on the 2nd, the budget for the radiation monitoring and response team was significantly cut.
The budget has been reduced by 36.1% from the previous year, from 7.424 billion won (about 810 million yen) this year to 4.742 billion won (about 518 million yen) in 2025.
Regarding this, questions have been raised as to whether it is appropriate to cut the budget of the Radiation Monitoring Response Team, given that the team is also responsible for monitoring radiation in neighboring countries, including China.
In August of this year, Yoo Kuk-hee, chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission, attended a general meeting of the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee held in the National Assembly and said, “The tritium being released from China is the same as the Fukushima nuclear power plant radiation.
In response to the criticism that the amount of wastewater was nearly 50 times that of effluent from the irrigation plant, the company said, "We understand that it is a considerable amount, but we have not been able to objectively verify the specific figures," and added, "We have not found any abnormal figures in our monitoring."
In response to the question, "If China unilaterally releases water into the ocean, is there any way to check it?", he said, "If abnormalities are found in the figures through monitoring, there will be international action.
Regarding the government budget cuts, Rep. Lee said, "Even if no abnormalities have been found in the radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, there is a possibility that it may be dangerous.
"It would be desirable to increase the budget and respond to the situation in order to protect the lives and safety of the people," he said, adding, "Cutting the budget for marine radiation surveys by 60% will only incite anxiety among the people."
"It is," he pointed out.