By Hongji Kim<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean police arrested on Thursday at least 16 people who entered a building housing the Japanese embassy in Seoul during a protest against Tokyo’s release of water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protest came the day Japan began releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked power plant into the Pacific Ocean, a polarising move that prompted fresh, fierce criticism from around the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group, made up mostly of young people, reached the eighth floor, where the embassy is located, and hung banners condemning the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The sea is not Japan’s trash bin,” read one of the banners. “Stop releasing contaminated water at once.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Reuters photographer on the scene saw police officers physically carry and drag protesters from the building and bundle them into a bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A police officer at the Jongno police station in the capital said 16 people were arrested on charges of trespassing, accusing them of trying to break into the embassy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About 50 people had gathered outside the embassy for the protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea’s government has said that it sees no scientific problems with the water release, but called on Tokyo to be transparent during the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What’s important now is whether Japan, as it promised to the international community, strictly follows the scientific standards and transparently provides information,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told a briefing.<\/p>\n