South Korea on Monday began "emergency radiation tests" on seawater at 108 maritime points around the Korean Peninsula to ease concerns over Japan's planned release of contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the oceans ministry said.
It chose 108 more coastal spots -- 75 spots in the east, west and south of South Korea, as well as the waters off the southern island of Jeju, and 33 spots from more distant areas -- to collect samples to check radioactivity levels, Vice Oceans Minister Park Sung-hoon said during a press briefing.
Tests will be carried out two or three times per month on each spot, and the government will employ a "rapid analysis method" to draw results in a swift manner, rather than using traditional inspection methods that generally take more than two months.
It will take around four days to get the analysis results, and the government plans to announce them when they are available, ministry officials said.
Japan plans to release radioactive water from the Fukushima plant into the sea soon, as the International Atomic Energy Agency found Tokyo's plan to be consistent with its safety standards after a two-year review.
Source: Yonhap News Agency