South Korea says it will continue radiation tests of seafood

ANKARA

South Korea on Thursday said it will continue intensive radiation tests on domestic and imported seafood as Japan began the second phase of releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, Yonhap news agency reported. The first phase was in August and September.

In 2011, a major earthquake and tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear accident.

"The government carried out more than 14,000 rounds of radiation tests on seafood, which already surpassed our goal for this year, and all the products met our safety standards," Vice Oceans Minister Park Sung-hoon told a press briefing.

South Korea banned all seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures near Fukushima in 2013 on concerns over their radiation levels in the wake of the 2011 incident, and vowed to keep in place the import curbs until all public concerns are addressed.

The second stage of the release will continue until Oct. 23.