Japan's Foreign Ministry has refuted a South Korean media report about the government's plan to release treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.

The ministry said in a statement on Monday that "a foreign self-proclaimed 'media'" had run a report on a supposed document that was said to be an official ministry telegram.

The statement said the report claimed that the radiation levels of treated water "significantly exceeded standards," so the ministry was considering meeting "safety standards by replacing ballast water and accelerating dilution."

The ministry said the "report has no basis" and that the supposed official ministry telegram "is a complete fake."
It's the second time the foreign ministry has refuted a report by the media outlet. In June, the ministry said a foreign media report claiming that Japan had made a political donation to the International Atomic Energy Agency was "absolutely untrue."

The ministry statement said the spread of malicious disinformation is a threat to democracy and greatly hurts the feelings of the people who are striving for the reconstruction of the affected areas.

Rain and groundwater mixes with water used to cool molten fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The accumulated water is treated to remove most radioactive substances, but still contains tritium.

The Japanese government plans to dilute the treated water to reduce tritium levels to about one-seventh of the World Health Organization's guidelines for drinking water quality before releasing it into the sea.