By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Panama City. July 4, 1012
South Korea is proposing to hunt whales under regulations permitting scientific research whaling, echoing the programmes of its neighbour, Japan.
Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard and New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully give their reaction (whaling footage courtesy of Greenpeace)
Hunting would take place near the Korean coast on minke whales. How many would be caught is unclear.
The South Korean delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) said the research was needed “for the proper assessment of whale stocks”.
Many governments at the IWC meeting condemned the Korean announcement.
There are several different stocks, or groups, of minke whales in the region, and one of the them, the so-called J-stock, is severely depleted.
Read the full article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18716300