DPRK condemns Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into sea

SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Foreign Ministry spokesman of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday condemned Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific in a press statement, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The statement said that Japan's discharge of polluted water containing large quantities of radioactive materials into the sea is "an unethical act of destroying the geo-ecological environment and of threatening the existence of mankind," the KCNA said.

The statement accused Japan of stubbornly activating the discharge plan in blatant defiance of the strong protests and warnings at home and abroad. In line with its description of Japan as a perpetrator of an "unethical crime," the statement also branded Japan as a country which "does not hesitate to impose a nuclear disaster upon mankind for its selfish purpose."

Sounding the alarm that the discharge of radioactive wastewater into the sea would seriously threaten the lives, safety and future of humankind, the DPRK urged Japan to immediately reconsider the dangerous act, the KCNA said.

The country also warned that Japan would be held fully accountable for all the catastrophic consequences of the discharge, it added.

On Thursday, Japan started its discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific.