|
March 18, 2008
|
|
| After finding 90 mink whales in a cold storage facility in Ulsan, police yesterday arrested three fisherman on charges of illegal whaling, the East Regional Headquarters of the Coast Guard announced yesterday. Another 78 buyers and traders were indicted without detention. Police said the three fishermen, including the 47-year-old captain of a whale fishing boat, went fishing for the mink whales in May, July and August of last year off the coast of Ulsan in the East Sea (Sea of Japan). The three, whose names were not released, then tried to sell their catch to restaurant owners in Ulsan through traders. Police were tipped off to the existence of two cold storage facilities in Ulsan, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Seoul. The whales being stored there were worth 800 million won ($804,000), police said. “We are still investigating the illegal whaling,” said Chung Woo-jin, an officer of the Korea Coast Guard on the case. “We expect to arrest more fishermen who caught whales illegally.” If convicted, the three suspects could be sentenced to up to three years in prison or fined 20 million won. By Park Sang-woo Contributing Writer [enational@joongang.co.kr] |
|
