Eugene Lee
As "Oppenheimer" swept the Academy Awards recently, I was left with a peculiar chill running down my spine, knowing that we live in the shadow of nuclear weapons, which are but a few hundred miles away from us. What struck me was how quickly we all have become content and complacent in the face of this threat. Over the past couple of years, a torrent of deliberately misleading, scientifically misguided and often politically charged media pieces on nuclear issues in Korea has created a unique side-effect: A psychological numbness, apathy or even cognitive delusion about the dangers of nuclear material.
Last year's public furor against the dumping of cooling water into the ocean at the Fukushima nuclear power plant seems to be so far away that hardly anyone gives a second thought about any side effects of the radiation whenever buying and eating seafood products today.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is entrusted with the oversight of this operation, pledges safety and control of the cooling water from the damaged power plant. However, an immense amount of water is necessary to keep the reactor cool. This highly dangerous water amounts to roughly 500 Olympic-size swimming pools daily. And that is just the beginning. This water has to undergo a decontamination process and is supposed to be tested before being released into the environment.
Even though there are assurances from the IAEA, the world authority on the control of nuclear material, and from the government of Japan stating that the water is not radioactive, many scientists worldwide doubt the safety of such releases. From their point of view, it all comes down to the number of radionuclides. Among those radionuclides is tritium, the active element of hydrogen, whose impact on humans is yet to be fully understood. Due to the lack of such research, there has simply been no level of measure of radionuclides set by any international body to be safe for humans.
Now, take the staggering amount of radioactive water and multiply that by 30 years. That's how long it will take completely to clean up the Fukushima site, and we will end up with what some people are calling a radioactive gamble. Countries do indeed dump nuclear waste into the ocean. In fact, South Korea did too. But the scale is incomparable— South Korea's dump is estimated at 4,000 square meters, versus approximately 600,000 square meters dumped to date by Japan. And how many more to come? So, we are all left to be the lab rats for the long-term effects of those discharges.
Obviously, the current rhetoric between the countries about the use of nuclear weapons has also become belligerent. Big countries, like the United States and Russia, keep mentioning these weapons to reassert their power. The aspirations of North Korea also remind us about the nuclear arms issue almost weekly. Some even question if the whole world has gone mad and forgotten the gravity of those weapons. Some bogus research republished in newspapers and online even postulate that maybe radiation is actually good for you. Whether that is the case or not, I am not the judge because I am simply not an expert. But in my life, I have met people who were affected by radiation, and I know how painful and terrible those effects are. And that's where I stand on the issue of nukes.
My second realization came from elsewhere. Due to the specificity of my research on Central Asia, I get to work with various organizations from the region. While working with five Central Asian countries, I discovered the arrogance with which many in various administrative ranks treat those five countries.
With the need for students and labor here, more people from those countries are coming to Korea. Unfortunately, some administrators and executives even label and treat them as criminals once the name of a country is put forward. And it is true — some, if not all, countries in Central Asia, not doing well economically — and there are historical and geopolitical reasons for that. But calling them third world countries just does not measure well with me. Here I would like to make sure and bring some clarity that some countries in the region do get their fair share of attention. Let me mention a relatively small, but in its own way unique, mountainous country, the Republic of Tajikistan.
The country is recovering and is recovering fast from its past problems. Its growing economy and increasing exports do not tell the whole story. It has what third-world countries do not — its own academy of sciences. And guess what — it even has its own nuclear reactor where it studies all sorts of things, including the use of nuclear materials in health care, namely oncology. In Soviet times, Tajikistan used to be the main supplier of uranium oxide, and efforts today are made to sustain and advance that know-how. Tajikistan may be small and seemingly insignificant, but its leader was very vocal in the face of Russia's powerful leadership, fearlessly demanding respect and fighting disregard and ignorance at big regional leaders' meetings.
I might know a fair share about the region, but every time I am asked to help, I see many attempts for cooperation made by the South Korean side stall due to simple ignorance and arrogance towards others. And that leads me to conclude that we have become insensitive and arrogant. South Korea is doing better these days, but the nightmares of 1997 are still alive in the memories of the older generation. So we should not forget where we were just a few decades ago. In the virtues of good Korean traditions, we must treat other countries and their citizens, not only from Central Asia but also everyone, with humility and respect while building strong relationships. And perhaps, by fostering a culture of understanding and cooperation, even a small nation like Tajikistan could play a crucial role in achieving denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.
Eugene Lee (mreulee@gmail.com) is a lecturing professor at the Graduate School of Governance at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. Specializing in international relations and governance, his research and teaching focus on national and regional security, international development, government policies and Northeast and Central Asia.
Denuclearization and humbleness
24
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24.03.2024
Eugene Lee
As "Oppenheimer" swept the Academy Awards recently, I was left with a peculiar chill running down my spine, knowing that we live in the shadow of nuclear weapons, which are but a few hundred miles away from us. What struck me was how quickly we all have become content and complacent in the face of this threat. Over the past couple of years, a torrent of deliberately misleading, scientifically misguided and often politically charged media pieces on nuclear issues in Korea has created a unique side-effect: A psychological numbness, apathy or even cognitive delusion about the dangers of nuclear material.
Last year's public furor against the dumping of cooling water into the ocean at the Fukushima nuclear power plant seems to be so far away that hardly anyone gives a second thought about any side effects of the radiation whenever buying and eating seafood products today.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is entrusted with the oversight of this operation, pledges safety and control of the cooling water from the damaged power plant. However, an immense amount of water is necessary to keep the reactor cool. This highly dangerous water amounts to roughly 500 Olympic-size swimming pools daily. And that is just the beginning. This water has to undergo a decontamination process and is supposed to be tested before being released into the environment.
Even though there are assurances from the IAEA, the world authority on the control of nuclear material, and from the government of Japan stating that the water is not........
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