South Korea Bans Fish Imports from Fukushima and Seven other Japanese Prefectures

South Korea announced a ban of all fish imports from eight of Japan's prefectures, citing concerns over possible environmental impacts regarding the recent and highly publicized leaks of contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station.

Fukushima prefecture, where the beleaguered Dai-ichi nuclear plant is located, is on the list, in addition to a swath of prefectures along Japan's northeast coast, as well as two landlocked prefectures.

The move will be a blow to a fishing industry that has already faced numerous setbacks in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear incident, which arose from the power station being overcome by a massive tsunami generated by an earthquake in March 2011.

Last year some 5,000 metric tons of fishery products from the affected region were exported to South Korea, according to The Guardian.

Japan insists that it thoroughly tests all of its food for radiation, but not all nations are convinced. China has upheld a ban on imports of seafood, dairy and vegetables from several of Japan's prefectures, including Fukushima, since March of 2011, The Guardian reported.

South Korea's move to ban what amounts to 50 types of seafood imports comes just as the International Olympic Committee is set to vote on whether Tokyo will be the host city for the 2020 Olympic Games.

In an official statement, South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said: "The measure comes as our people's concerns are growing over the fact that hundreds of tonnes of radiation-contaminated water leak every day from the site of Japan's nuclear accident in Fukushima."

"The government has concluded that the information provided by Japan so far has failed to make it clear how the incident will develop in the future," the ministry said, according to Al Jazeera. "Under the new measure, all fisheries products from this region will be banned regardless of whether they are contaminated or not."

The prefectures included in the ban run along the Pacific perimeter of the northern half of Honshu, the main island in Japan. They are, from north-to-south: Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba. Of those prefectures, Gunma and Tochigi are landlocked.

Daisuke Tachioka, deputy section chief of the Chiba Prefectural Fisheries Division, said it is has not been proven that the two landlocked prefectures export any fishery goods to South Korea, according to an NHK report (in Japanese).