North Korea has called the release of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in the ocean a crime against humanity as it urged Japan to immediately halt the process.

The North made the call in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, saying that the marine discharge of contaminated water containing a large amount of radioactive material is an “anti-human act” that destroys the global ecological environment and threatens the survival of humankind.

The statement issued in the name of a spokesperson from the North Korean foreign ministry said that Japan is trying to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea just because it costs less and takes less effort.

The North said that although Tokyo claims the treated water is clean, it has been scientifically proven that it contains a large amount of dangerous radionuclides such as tritium, cesium and strontium.

The statement said Japan must immediately halt the discharge of dangerous nuclear-contaminated water that seriously threatens the safety and future of humanity, warning that the country will bear full responsibility for all of the resultant consequences.

Earlier on Thursday, Japan began to release the first batch of treated wastewater from the Fukushima plant into the sea.