IAEA chief criticised over Japanese plans to release nuclear plant wastewater

Main opposition Democratic Party politician Woo Won-shik, left, shows a list of proposed disposal methods for the Fukushima contaminated water as his colleague Wi Seong-gon and Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, right, look on during a meeting with the party at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP/PA)

South Korean opposition politicians sharply criticised the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog for its approval of Japanese plans to release treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant during a tense meeting in Seoul on Sunday.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, arrived in South Korea over the weekend to engage with government officials and critics and help reduce public concerns about food safety.