South Korea said Wednesday it may scrap its fiercely criticized plan to resume "scientific" whaling if experts come up with non-lethal means to study the mammals in its waters.

"We may not conduct whaling for scientific research if there is another way to achieve the goal," Kang Joon-Suk, a senior official of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, told reporters.

South Korea unveiled its plan at an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting last week in Panama, sparking an international outcry. It would use a loophole in a global moratorium that permits killing of whales for "scientific" research.

Greenpeace described scientific whaling as "just thinly disguised commercial whaling". The United States, Australia and New Zealand also spoke out strongly against Seoul's plan.

South Korea cited what it called a significant increase in whale stocks in its waters and consequent damage to fisheries.

If it goes ahead, it would be the fourth country to kill whales, excluding allowances for indigenous groups. Norway and Iceland openly defy the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling, saying they believe stocks are healthy.

Japan already uses the loophole for scientific research, with the meat then going on dinner plates.

Kang said South Korea would fully consult international and domestic experts before and after presenting a detailed whaling program to the IWC's scientific committee, set to meet in South Korea in May next year.

"We will respect the committee's recommendations in making our decision," he said.

Yonhap news agency said Seoul could be backtracking in the face of strong criticism at home and abroad.

The ministry said South Korea would not consume meat from whales caught for scientific research if it goes ahead.

Whale meat is popular in the coastal town of Ulsan, which currently serves the remains of whales "accidentally" caught in nets.

Some 100 whales, most of them minke, are netted "accidentally" every year in South Korean waters. Critics say the high rate of bycatch raises suspicions that some whales may be killed intentionally. (AFP)

<관련 한글 기사>

농식품부, 과학용 고래잡이 포기 가능성 시사


농림수산식품부가 11일 과학조사 목적의 포경(고래잡이)을 포기할 가능성을 시사했다.

강준석 농식품부 원양협력관은 이날 정부과천청사에서 가진 브리핑에서 "과학포경 계획서를 작성해 어업인과 환경단체, 국내외 전문가 등의 의견 수렴을 충분히 거치겠다"며 "고래 조사 목적을 달성할 방법이 있다면 과학조사 포경을 하지 않을 수 있다"고 밝혔다.

농식품부는 내년 5월 한국에서 열리는 국제포경위원회(IWC) 과학위원회에서 과학포경 승인을 받기 위해 오는 11월까지 계획서를 제출할 방침이었다.

하지만, 포경에 반대하는 호주 등은 고래에 칩을 이식한 뒤 위성 추적 장치를 이용해 조사하는 방법 등을 권고하고 있다.