South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered officials on Wednesday to explore moving an international court over Japan's decision to release water from its Fukushima nuclear plant, his spokesman said, amid protests by fisheries and environmental groups.
Japan unveiled plans on Tuesday to release more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water into the sea from the plant crippled by a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, starting in about two years after filtering it to remove harmful isotopes.
South Korea strongly protested against the decision, summoning Koichi Aiboshi, Tokyo's ambassador in Seoul, and convening an intra-agency emergency meeting to craft its response.
Moon, at a separate meeting on Wednesday, called for looking into ways to refer Japan's move to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, his spokesman Kang Min-seok told a briefing.
Moon also expressed concerns about the decision as Aiboshi presented his credentials, having arrived in South Korea in February for the ambassador's post.
"I cannot but say that there are much concerns here about the decision as a country that is geologically closest and shares the sea with Japan," Moon said, asking Aiboshi to convey such worries to Tokyo, according to Kang.