Proposal halted after storm of international criticism

Plans by South Korea to resume ‘scientific’ whaling, similar to those carried out by Japan in the Antarctic, have been abandoned due to a storm of international criticism.

The country announced its plans at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Panama in July. The decision to drop the plans became official when the government failed to submit a formal proposal to the IWC by the 3 December deadline.

South Korea will instead use non-lethal methods to conduct research into the mammals. A fishery minister commented on the decision: "After gathering opinions from various sides, the government is now in the process of finalising its plan to study whales through non-lethal techniques, like many other countries such as Australia do."

A ban on commercial whaling was put in place by the IWC in 1986; however, this allowed scientific whaling to continue with the meat sold on the open market. Japan is known to abuse this loophole and kills hundreds of whales every year.

Initially South Korea explained that an increase in whale stocks in its coastal waters had prompted the decision as it would pose a threat to squid and fish stocks. The ministry reportedly began to reconsider after criticism from anti-whaling nations and an online petition that attracted more than 1,000,000 protest emails in three weeks.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare welcomed the move and urged South Korea to reduce the number of whales that get entangled in fishing nets.

"The government of Korea made the right call and should be commended for it," said Patrick Ramage, the director of the fund's global whale programme. "Whaling in the name of science is unnecessary, and killing whales for commercial purposes is a proven ethical, ecological and economic loser in the 21st century.