Why South Koreans are rushing to stockpile salt

beforewisdom writes: South Koreans have begun to hoard excessive amounts of sea salt and other items as Japan prepares to dump treated radioactive water from the Fukushima power plant into the ocean.

Surge in demand contributes to a 27% rise in the price of salt in South Korea

Japan is set to release more than 1 million metric tons of water into the Pacific that was used to cool damaged reactors at the power plant north of Tokyo, after it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Tokyo has repeatedly assured that the water is safe and has been filtered to remove most isotopes though it does contain traces of tritium, an isotope of hydrogen hard to separate from water.

Although Japan has not set a date for the release, the announcement has made fishermen and shoppers across the region apprehensive.

South Korea's fisheries authorities have vowed to ramp up efforts to monitor natural salt farms for any rise in radioactive substances and maintain a ban on seafood from the waters near Fukushima.