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A paragliding pilot flies over Greenpeace and KFEM activists protesting against the proposed construction of a whale meat processing factory in Ulsan May 31, 2005.
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Ulsan
City Council planned to build a whale meat processing plant in
Jangsaengpo, Ulsan, intending to start construction late this
year. The Korean fisheries ministry insisted that this plant was "a check-point for dealing with whale carcasses in an environment-friendly and sanitary manner".
However, according to newspaper reports in the South Korean paper The Hankyoreh, the council has decided to scrap the plans largely because:
"Greenpeace called the facility a whale meat factory at its website, which caused the international community to view Korea as a pro-whaling nation. The city decided that going ahead with the plan would not be in the national interest. It also had trouble raising the fund. In the end, it decided to scrap the plan."
However, the Council will not commit to us in writing that the factory will not be built. According to the same newspaper report, a city official said, "It is unprecedented that the city produces an official document confirming its decision for an NGO [Non-Governmental Organisation]. People may view such document as a sign that the city has changed its policy in the face of outside pressure. So putting the decision in writing is unthinkable."
Greenpeace and the Korean Federation for Environment Movement issued the following statement:
"Greenpeace and KFEM are greatly encouraged by news released today in the South Korean publication, The Hankyoreh, that plans to build a whalemeat factory in Ulsan, South Korea have been scrapped.
If these reports are true, Greenpeace and KFEM welcome the South Korean Government's courageous move. By scrapping the planned whale meat factory, the South Korean Government is showing that it does not support whaling, and it does not wish to follow in the footsteps of the Japanese Government in their determination to destroy the world's dwindling numbers of whales. We hope that this move towards whale protection will be extended to the IWC, and that the South Korean Government will now vote in favour of whale protection and vote against a resumption of commercial whaling."
While the whale meat factory victory is great news, the battle to save Korea's whales has not ended - this weekend sees the start of the IWC in Ulsan, and another chance for the Korean government to prove that it really is opposed to the resumption of whaling in any form.
However, according to newspaper reports in the South Korean paper The Hankyoreh, the council has decided to scrap the plans largely because:
"Greenpeace called the facility a whale meat factory at its website, which caused the international community to view Korea as a pro-whaling nation. The city decided that going ahead with the plan would not be in the national interest. It also had trouble raising the fund. In the end, it decided to scrap the plan."
However, the Council will not commit to us in writing that the factory will not be built. According to the same newspaper report, a city official said, "It is unprecedented that the city produces an official document confirming its decision for an NGO [Non-Governmental Organisation]. People may view such document as a sign that the city has changed its policy in the face of outside pressure. So putting the decision in writing is unthinkable."
Greenpeace and the Korean Federation for Environment Movement issued the following statement:
"Greenpeace and KFEM are greatly encouraged by news released today in the South Korean publication, The Hankyoreh, that plans to build a whalemeat factory in Ulsan, South Korea have been scrapped.
If these reports are true, Greenpeace and KFEM welcome the South Korean Government's courageous move. By scrapping the planned whale meat factory, the South Korean Government is showing that it does not support whaling, and it does not wish to follow in the footsteps of the Japanese Government in their determination to destroy the world's dwindling numbers of whales. We hope that this move towards whale protection will be extended to the IWC, and that the South Korean Government will now vote in favour of whale protection and vote against a resumption of commercial whaling."
While the whale meat factory victory is great news, the battle to save Korea's whales has not ended - this weekend sees the start of the IWC in Ulsan, and another chance for the Korean government to prove that it really is opposed to the resumption of whaling in any form.
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