Following Japan's release of wastewater from its stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in August 2023, a photo of a harbour filled with dead fish has been shared on Facebook with a false claim it was taken off the coast of Busan in South Korea "hours" after the discharge began. In fact, the photo was taken in 2022 in a different coastal city. South Korean fisheries officials have also dismissed the claim and said there were no mass fish deaths observed in Busan or anywhere else in the country as of September 4.

"Hours after the wastewater was released, scores of dead fish were found in the waters of Busan," reads the Korean-language claim shared here on August 25, 2023.

"The wastewater was deemed safe, but a serious situation emerged on the first day of its release."

The post includes two images, with one showing a coastal factory compound labelled "site of the Fukushima wastewater release" and another that appears to show a harbour filled with dead fish labelled "the sea in front of Busan".

It also links to a tabloid news report that reads in part: "As wastewater from Fukushima was released from 13:00 on the 24th, surprising reports emerged about a phenomenon of mass fish deaths observed in the sea in front of Busan."

The claim circulated a day after Japan began the gradual discharge of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant on August 24 as part of a process deemed safe by the country's marine authorities as well as the UN atomic watchdog IAEA.

But the...

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