YEONGDEOK, South Korea--Japanese protesters joined their South Korean counterparts on March 19 and 20 in demonstrations to protest plans to construct new nuclear power plants at sites near the South Korean coastline facing the Sea of Japan.
YEONGDEOK, South Korea--Japanese protesters joined their South Korean counterparts on March 19 and 20 in demonstrations to protest plans to construct new nuclear power plants at sites near the South Korean coastline facing the Sea of Japan.“Our seas, mountains and farmlands were contaminated by radioactive materials," said Kenichi Hasegawa, who ran a dairy farm in Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, before he was forced to evacuate after the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake. "I hope we are the last people who suffer such tragedy.”The protests took place at the two proposed sites: Samcheok in Gangwon province and Yeongdeok in North Gyeongsang province. Both were chosen as candidate sites in December by a public organization that operates nuclear power plants in South Korea.Hasegawa, 58, said he is now living in a temporary housing facility in Date, Fukushima Prefecture. All the residents of Iitate were required to evacuate because of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.Hasegawa told the South Koreans that he was forced to kill all his dairy cattle and that eight members of his family are now scattered in various locations.