(2nd LD) IAEA chief to visit S. Korea this week to discuss agency report on Fukushima water discharge

(ATTN: RECASTS headline; ADDS photo; UPDATES with more info in para 2)
By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit South Korea later this week to explain the analysis of the U.N. watchdog's safety review of Japan's planned release of water from its crippled Fukushima plant, an official said Tuesday.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will arrive Friday after completing an ongoing four-day trip to Japan aimed at delivering the results of the IAEA's final report, which is widely expected to approve the discharge of contaminated water into the ocean.

Kyodo News reported that the director will release the results later in the day.

Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said the director will then come to South Korea for a three-day trip, including a meeting with the head of the country's nuclear safety watchdog, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

"Besides, Director General Grossi is expected to have other schedules, such as a meeting with the foreign minister," Park told a daily briefing on the Fukushima issue.

Park also said the South Korean government is in the final stage of its own scientific analysis of the discharge plan based on the results of its inspection and the participation on the IAEA's monitoring team.

South Korea's 21-member team completed its six-day trip to Japan in late May, which included the on-site inspection. Also, a South Korean expert has participated in the IAEA's monitoring team, which had previously released five interim evaluations.

"We expect to present (the final analysis) to the people sometime soon," Park said.

Japan has not yet specified a date for the start of the water release, which is expected to take place over the next few decades, pending the IAEA's final review and approval from its nuclear regulatory body, despite opposition from neighboring countries.

In response to heightened public concern, Seoul launched a daily press briefing last month to keep the public updated on the planned release of contaminated water from the plant, which was severely damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

khj@yna.co.kr
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