<Anchor>

Tomorrow (7th), Japanese Prime Minister Kishida will come to Korea and hold a summit meeting with President Yoon Seok-yeol. One of the agenda items of the talks is the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant, and in this regard, our government decided to send a delegation to Japan. The timing of the dispatch is likely to be the end of this month.

First news, correspondent Park Sang-jin reports exclusively from Tokyo.

<Reporter>

South Korea and Japan have agreed to send a delegation from the Korean government to discuss the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

It is unusual for the Japanese government to accept a government delegation from a particular country on Fukushima contaminated water.

It is said that the timing of the visit to Japan is likely after the G19 summit to be held in Hiroshima from the 7th.

This is in view of the fact that the final verification process that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is conducting to prepare its final report will begin early next month.

A government delegation consisting of officials from the State Affairs Coordination Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Nuclear Safety Commission will tour the Fukushima First Nuclear Power Plant and hold meetings with officials from ministries such as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The Korean and Japanese governments discussed the issue of contaminated water safety at the Fukushima nuclear plant three times last year, as well as the issue of sending delegations.

However, the Japanese government plans to allow the ROK delegation to visit Japan, but it is reported that it has expressed difficulty with joint verification at the bilateral level, citing the fact that it is currently undergoing IAEA verification.

Construction of a tunnel for the marine discharge of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant is expected to be completed next month.

[Matsuno/Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary (January): The specific release time (of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant) is expected to be between spring and summer.]

The issue of contaminated treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant will be on the agenda at the Korea-Japan summit tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see how the two leaders will conclude the joint verification part.

(Video Interview: Moon Hyun-jin, Video Editing: Jung Sung-hoon)