Ruling and opposition parties continued to lock horns over Japan’s discharge of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean.

The ruling People Power Party(PPP) on Sunday criticized four opposition parties for holding a massive rally in downtown Seoul on Saturday to condemn the discharge, saying that they can’t protect the health and safety of people on the street.

PPP spokesperson Yoo Sang-bum said in a commentary on Sunday that the opposition parties and civic groups staged a massive protest the previous day and the rally was filled with abusive words and inflammatory slogans provoking public anxiety and anti-Japan sentiment. 

The spokesperson said that it was deplorable that opposition lawmakers departed for Japan on Sunday to attend a rally organized by a Japanese opposition party to protest the discharge, adding it’s concerned the lawmakers will suffer international disgrace from the visit. 

Yoo stressed that the discharge has already begun and now is the time to face the reality and make bipartisan effort to protect the health and safety of people. 

Meanwhile, the main opposition Democratic Party criticized President Yoon Suk Yeol, saying that the patience of the people has already exceeded its limit.

DP spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung said in a press briefing on Sunday that about 50-thousand citizens who gathered for the rally on Saturday condemned President Yoon, who is keeping silent over the matter. 

Kwon said that the public uproar is spreading like wildfire against Yoon, who had pledged to take care of people’s safety until the end but broke the pledge. The spokesperson asked the Yoon administration to ask Japan to stop the discharge.