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President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea holds up an Asian blue crab while talking to a merchant at Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul on Aug. 31. (courtesy of the presidential office)

Taking place exactly one week after Japan began dumping contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, the leaders of South Korea and Japan and the US ambassador to Japan drew attention with their coinciding visits to fish markets on Thursday, where they all sampled seafood.

Amid heightened concerns about the safety of seafood following the dumping of radioactively contaminated water, South Korea, the US and Japan are making a show of their concerted response.

President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea paid a visit to Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul on Thursday, where he purchased rockfish, Asian blue crab, and spotted gizzard shad and offered encouragement to fishmongers and others in the seafood industry, according to Lee Do-woon, the presidential spokesperson.

(Left) President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea walks through Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul on Aug. 31. (courtesy of the presidential office) / (Right) Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan visits Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo on Aug. 31. (Yonhap)

While perusing the stalls on the first floor of the market, the president told sellers that he “hoped to lift the spirits of the merchants by paying a visit.” Yoon dined on rockfish soup at a restaurant at the market with aides including Kim Dae-ki, his chief of staff.

The presidential office underscored that Yoon’s visit was the first trip to the Noryangjin Fish Market by a sitting president in the market’s 96-year history.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan also spent Thursday on an outing to Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo, where he sampled octopus and cheered on merchants.

This was the prime minister’s second consecutive day of publicly dining on seafood. On Wednesday, Kishida posted on social media about his lunch that day, which had been prepared with seafood from Fukushima.

Writing that Fukushima ingredients and Japanese cuisine are “delectable,” Kishida capped his post on Facebook with hashtags encouraging readers to “send support by eating seafood” and “stop reputational damage from rumors.”

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan samples octopus during a visit to Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo on Aug. 31. (Yonhap)

Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, visited the city of Soma in Fukushima Prefecture, where he chowed down on locally sourced seafood on Thursday. Emanuel had previously announced in the local press his intention to visit Fukushima that day.

“The United States stands firmly with Japan, especially when contrasted with China’s overtly political decision to ban all Japanese seafood imports and past failures in openness and scientific cooperation,” the ambassador said in a message posted to the website of the US Embassy in Japan, criticizing China and underscoring Washington-Tokyo cooperation.

Rahm Emmanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, eats Fukushima-sourced sashimi at a restaurant in Soma, a city in Japan’s Fukushima Province, on Aug. 31. (Reuters/Yonhap)

By Lee Seung-jun, staff reporter

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