Around 10 South Korean environmentalists staged a rally on Friday (July 6) against a scientific whaling proposal, after government officials unveiled the plan at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Panama City earlier in the week.<br/> <br />South Korea said scientific whaling is "the right" of IWC members.<br/> <br />Three activists staged a mock killing of a whale in Seoul, using hammers and saws.<br/> <br />Choi Ye-yong, a member of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, claimed the proposed scientific whaling would be for commercial purposes.<br/> <br />South Korea's move has angered other Asian countries and conservationists who said the practice would skirt a global ban on whale hunting.<br/> <br />Critics said the move to pursue whaling in domestic waters was modelled on Japan's introduction of scientific whaling after the IWC imposed a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling.<br/> <br />Japan says it has a right to monitor the whales' impact on its fishing industry. South Korea says whaling is a long-standing cultural tradition.<br/> <br />The minke whales that South Korea proposes hunting are considered endangered, the World Wildlife Fund has said in a statement.<br/> <br />Whales are currently still hunted by Japan, Iceland and Norway.
