Jakarta: The foreign ministers of Japan, the United States and South Korea on Friday discussed coordination to prevent the spread of disinformation over Tokyo’s plan to release treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.

The Japanese ministry last month strongly disputed South Korean media reports that Tokyo made a political donation to the International Atomic Energy Agency over its review of the water release plan.

In its June 22 statement, the ministry said “the report has no basis in fact, and the Government of Japan strongly opposes the irresponsible dissemination of such false information.”

The IAEA released a report earlier this month saying the water release plan is “consistent with relevant international safety standards.” The Japanese government has said that the water release would begin around this summer.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, meeting in Jakarta, also discussed North Korea’s Wednesday launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In a statement issued after their meeting, the ministers condemned the ICBM launch, saying, “This constitutes a clear, flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and poses a grave threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.”

The statement also said the three countries will strengthen their trilateral security cooperation to effectively address Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats including by sharing North Korean missile warning data in real-time.

JIJI Press