Yoon government at odds with public opinion

Sixteen university students in the Republic of Korea who were protesting against Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean were arrested on Thursday, according to Yonhap News Agency.

In stark contrast to the growing opposition to the move among the public in the ROK, there is an ambiguous stance from President Yoon Suk-yeol and his cabinet, which has softened its tone toward Japan.

But the public in the ROK does not buy the government's claims. As the nuclear-contaminated water was officially discharged into the sea, Jagalchi Market in Busan, the country's most famous seafood market, and the nearby famous sashimi restaurant gathering place Minledong Sashimi Street were hardly visited; the south of Jeju Island Dongmen Fish Market also had few customers. Some seafood vendors bluntly said, "Business during the epidemic was better than now".

The Yoon government released a statement saying that it "believes that Japan's plan to discharge water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant has no scientific or technical problems".

Some analysts have suggested that the intense opposition to Japan's decision, especially among the public in China and the ROK, is largely rooted in the long-standing perception that the Japanese government cannot be trusted. This deep-seated distrust, passed down through generations, is not something a few public relations efforts by the Japanese government can erase, especially given the Fumio Kishida government's lack of transparency on the issue of the nuclear-contaminated water.

In fact, both the opposition party in the ROK and the general public are no longer hiding their dissatisfaction with Yoon's Cabinet regarding the issue of Japan's nuclear-contaminated water discharge.

Of course, it is well known why Yoon persists in disregarding domestic public opinion and the government's declining support.

As observers have pointed out, Yoon's purpose is to please the United States, which is focused on consolidating the "iron triangle" of the US, Japan, and the ROK. The US has been trying to narrow the distance between Japan and the ROK so that they can serve the US hegemony better. The recent Camp David talks were part of this calculation.

In order to please the US, Yoon is willing to endorse the Japanese government rushing ahead with the discharge of the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. In return, the US offered the vague prospect of supply chain cooperation.