Fear mongering over radiation

Radioactive particles were found in rainwater that fell on Jeju Island Thursday, but the volume is so miniscule that no impact on the human body is expected. In rain that fell in other regions the same day, trace amounts of radiation were detected. The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety said, “Even if one drinks 2 liters of the Jeju rainwater containing the highest concentration of radioactive materials every day for a year, the radiation to which the person is exposed is just 45 percent of the radiation from one X-ray scan.” Fears were raised that rain falling on the Korean Peninsula after the accident at the Japanese nuclear power plant would contain radiation higher than permissible levels, but have proven to be unfounded.

Those who stocked radiation fears have kept mum on the latest rain. A coalition on “supporting victims of the Japanese earthquake and nuclear accident and the shift of nuclear power development policies," which comprise 49 civic groups including the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, began criticizing on March 22 the Korean government’s policy on nuclear power generation and highlighting harmful effects of nuclear power and radiation by taking advantage of the Japanese earthquake. On the rain forecast, the coalition said children, the elderly and pregnant women should be encouraged to remain indoors and for school closures to be considered.

Certain Internet news outlets carried the coalition’s claims and fueled fears over radiation. They rattled the public with groundless claims, and though the claims were proven to be unfounded, they refuse to take responsibility.

Among the civic groups, 23 joined a people’s coalition on mad cow disease three years ago. Those who spread groundless fears over the disease have taken the lead again in spreading equally unfounded rumors on radiation. Some see these instigations as part of leftist strategy to engage the people in politics through everyday issues. After losing the 2007 presidential election, the left shifted from strategies focusing on big issues, incomprehensible leftist theories, and struggles to those utilizing issues closely related to lives of ordinary citizens. In this sense, it is no coincidence that education offices in Gyeonggi and North Jeolla provinces agreed with the coalition’s claims by allowing their schools to close on the day of the rainfall. Regrettably, the practice of inciting the people by distorting the truth for political interests remains.

North Korea`s nuclear weapons pose more of a risk to South Korea than Japan`s crippled nuclear plant. Key figures of the coalition remained silent when the North conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Those who said nothing on the North`s threat of obliterating the South with nuclear weapons made a fuss about nothing when radioactive rain fell. This is utter hypocrisy.