Feature story - April 8, 2005
ULSAN, Korea, Republic of — Ulsan, host city of this year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting, is enthusiastically building a whale museum and a brand new marine park in anticipation. But we have uncovered plans, noticeably absent from the Ulsan council's bright and cheery website, that include a whale meat factory and whale burial ground. Is this the "city for whales", as they like to say, or the "city for whaling"?
Activists in Ulsan protest Korean plans to return to whaling.
We have set up a protest camp, or 'Whale Embassy', at the
proposed whale meat factory site, working together with activists
from the Korean Federation for Environment Movement (KFEM). The
whale museum with its prominently displayed harpoon boat, and a
street of whale meat restaurants, overlook the site which is
covered in piles of rocky soil, since the marine park is still
under construction. A 12 metre high beacon towers above the camp as
a symbol of the danger for whales. Scattered around the rocks are
large wooden whale flukes symbolising gravestones in the "whale
burial ground".
The Embassy itself consists of a large green dome, inside of
which we have information on the plight of whales and our own
alternative "whale museum". The dome is flanked by two huge
inflatable whales, which have drawn a lot of bemused stares from
local joggers and restaurant-owners across the street.
For their part, officials say that Korea has not yet decided
whether or not it will vote to resume whaling at this years'
IWC.
"Why would the South Korean government invest in a brand new
whale and dolphin meat processing factory unless it's already
decided to rebuild its whaling industry? Let them deny it if it's
not true," said Jim Wickens, our oceans campaigner, from the
protest camp.
The hunting of whales is banned internationally but the South
Korean government currently sanctions a national trade in the meat
of whales and dolphins that are caught accidentally in nets.
However, government statistics show around a hundred times more
whales are "accidentally" caught in Korea than in countries that do
not have a domestic whale meat market. Scientists believe that even
the most populous whale species in Korean waters, minke whales, are
in serious decline because of this trade.
It's not just foreigners to Korea who feel that it's time for
whaling to be put in the past for good. Ye-Yong Choi, from KFEM,
said:
"Whales in Korea's oceans, like whales everywhere, need urgent
protection. History shows us that killing them in the name of
science or commerce will lead to their demise. Instead of repeating
the mistakes of the past, let's protect our ocean life and make our
seas a whale sanctuary, instead of a whale cemetery."
More Info Read the weblog from the
Rainbow Warrior, currently in Korea, with updates from the
"Whale Embassy". Check out the tour website at www.comebackwhales.com
Tell Korea: No whaling!
Tell your Korean embassy that the international community will not condone whaling in any form - commercial, scientific or "accidental". Say "no" to the whale meat factory in Korea.
Donate to save whales
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