2011/03/14 10:06 KST
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) — The South Korean legislature on Monday convened emergency sessions of four committees to discuss countermeasures for a powerful quake and a tsunami that caused unprecedented casualties and property losses in Japan.
The 9.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Japan’s northeastern and eastern regions and was followed by a tsunami on Friday, with authorities in Japan warning Sunday night the death toll would be in the “tens of thousands.”
Japan also wrestled with the threat of possible meltdowns of two nuclear reactors at a power plant damaged by the quake after an explosion on Saturday blew off the roof and walls around one of the reactors at the plant in Fukushima, 240 kilometers north of Tokyo.
The parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, trade and unification was to hear from Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan on the government’s plans to aid Japan.
The knowledge and economy committee was to question Minister Choi Joong-kyung about the safety of local atomic power plants and measures to minimize the impact of the Japanese quake on local industries.
The strategy and finance committee was to closely examine the quake’s impact on the domestic economy and countermeasures with Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun and Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo attending.
The education, science and technology committee will discuss the possible impact of the explosion of a nuclear reactor in the Fukushima power plant to the Korean Peninsula. Kim Chang-kyung, a deputy education minister, and Youn Ho-jung, chief of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, will attend the session, according to the committee.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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