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.
15/06/2005 — In an amazing turn of events,
the city of Ulsan has apparently courageously
decided not to build the proposed whalemeat
factory – the target of our Whale Embassy
occupation. The news of this decision was
reported in a South Korean newspaper on
the eve of the International Whaling Commission
(IWC) meeting.
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.
