South Korea has said that it wants to begin hunting whales under rules permitting whaling for scientific research following the example of its close neighbor, Japan. South Korean delegates told a meeting of International Whaling Commission they would submit their whaling plans to an international panel of scientists for scrutiny. The proposal was strongly condemned by anti-whaling governments at the meeting in Panama City, from where Richard Black reports.

韩国称，希望能效仿邻国日本，在遵守规定的前提下捕鲸以作科学研究之用。韩国代表在国际捕鲸委员会的会议上表示，将向国际科学家小组提交捕鲸计划以供审查。该提议遭到了与会巴拿马城的反捕鲸政府的强烈谴责。理查德·布莱克报道。

Korea has a longer documented history of whale meat eating than anywhere else in the world, dating back possibly 8,000 years. But recently, catchers have been limited to minke whales snared in fishing nets, officially by accident. The South Korean government would like to let its fishermen hunt whales openly around the coast. But that's prohibited under IWC rules, hence the proposal to follow the Japanese example – a new scientific whaling regulations. How many whales will be targeted isn't clear. The South Korean delegation here said the proposals would first have to be scrutinized by an international panel of scientists.

据记载，韩国食鲸鱼的历史比世界上任何国家都要久，可能要追溯到8000年以前。但最近，官方规定捕鲸者只能捕猎渔网捕到的小须鲸。韩国政府希望让渔民在领海附近捕鲸。但这是国际捕鲸委员会明文禁止的，因此韩国效仿日本的先例，按照规定捕鲸用作科研之用。韩国想捕猎多少鲸鱼尚不清楚，韩国代表团说，这些提议要首先经过一个国际科学家小组的审查。