Description
International Studies faces an era of global uncertainty and ploycrisis where diverse issues easily blur the lines between traditional and non-traditional security areas. Among these issues, transnational environmental risks accelerate global uncertainty. In 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred and caused a tsunami, leading to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. After over a decade of treatment to remove radioactive materials, in 2021, the Japanese government announced a long-term plan to release the Fukushima nuclear treated water. This decision has sparked significant controversy over the safety issues of the Fukushima water, particularly in South Korea. This paper examines the conflicting South Korean discourses surrounding the Fukushima water release at both domestic and international levels. It argues that the political response to transboundary environmental risk is fundamentally shaped by both scientific assessment and struggles for symbolic power and recognition. With discourses on the Fukushima water release in South Korea, this paper employs the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries to explore the multifaceted dynamics of nuclear technology and policies. The Fukushima water release inherently relates to the use of nuclear power, which is a key political and economic issue in South Korea and even East Asia. Employing critical discourse analysis, this study recasts Korea as an analytical vantage point to reveal how non-traditional security elements converge with geopolitical tensions, offering new insights to comprehend and manage the entanglement of traditional and non-traditional security issues.
