The 16th annual Ulsan Whale Festival (울산고래축제) will run from July 1st through July 4th. It was originally scheduled for April 22nd through 25th, but like several other festivals, was delayed following the sinking of the Cheonan. The official website provides a schedule, a set of programs organized by theme, and a map, all in Korean. There is an English-language page, though it's of the quality that makes you wonder why they even bother.
Ulsan is the country's seventh-largest city---perhaps best known for the Hyundai car factory, the largest in the world---and is accessible by regularly-scheduled buses from just about every city. Buses from Gwangju start the 250-minute trip from gate 4 at 07:10(우등), 9:10(우등), 11:10(일반), 13:10(우등), 15:10(우등), 17:10(일반), 19:10(우등), and 22:10(심야우등), according to the bus terminal's website. 우등 buses are nicer, and the seats fewer and larger, but tickets cost 6,600 won more.
Jogging my memory about the festival, which I wrote a little about last year, were a couple of recent articles about whaling off the country's southeast. In the JoongAng Daily today is an article about the demand for whale meat feeding what is nominally an illegal whaling industry in South Korea:
According to the Korean Coast Guard, roughly 660 whales were caught each year from 2007 to 2009, with the whales allegedly getting caught in fishing nets and traps set for other marine life. During the same period, 243 minke whales, a bigger cetacean variety, were caught.
Fishermen auction off the meat whenever the whale gets trapped in their nets, and whales can fetch prices of 20 million won each, due to high demand in the area.
“There were only four or five whale meat eateries six years ago in the central area of Ulsan, but now there are around 20,” said Ju Tae-hwa, 59, who runs a whale meat shop in the region.
Whaling is illegal, though fisher(wo)men are permitted to sell whales "accidentally" caught in nets. The Korea Times wrote two weeks ago, following news of illegal whale poachers off Ulsan:
Poaching whales for commercial purposes is banned worldwide, with Korea being one of most stringent enforcers against the illegal hunting of the endangered species.
Unless whales are caught accidentally in fishing nets, which is the jackpot for a catcher, it is strictly prohibited to hunt them here for profit. But whale meat has been a local delicacy for those living in the southeastern part of the country for many years, and is sold at higher prices than ``hanwoo,'' Korea's homegrown beef.
Ulsan has an ambivalent relationship with whaling: it's supposed to be illegal, but it's part of the city's heritage dating back thousands of years to some famous cave drawings. That ambivalence is found in an opinion piece in the Korea Times in 2008 "Ulsan, Whaling City," and most strongly in what is my favorite article on the topic, from the JoongAng Daily in January 2008. It opens with:
Eating whale meat here can be an unsettling experience.
The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling worldwide in 1986. That means, according to law, restaurants in Ulsan are only allowed to serve whale meat that has been caught “by accident” in fishing nets or washed up on shore already dead.
And closes with recommendations of the city's best whale-meat restaurants:
For whale meat, check out Wonjo Gorae Matjip (052-261-5060), or The Original Whale Deli, which charges 30,000 won ($32). The better known whale meat restaurant is Gorae Halmaejip (052-265-9558), or Whale Grannie’s House. The menu includes whale stew.
A cheaper option is to buy whale meat in Joongang Market in central Ulsan, but be ready to compromise on sanitation.
A 2007 reenactment of a hunt, from the JoongAng Daily.
10 comments:
there must me LOTS of accidents. There's a whale restuarant around the corner & down the block from where I live, on Hyundai's university. When the sign is lit, there's whale for sale. I've been here since March & have yet to see the sign dark & the doors closed, day or night. The place stays busy too.
Sickening.
The English language page isn't too bad, except for the "announcement ritual to heaven."
@Reality Zone, yes it is sickening. I tasted whale once. It was probably the most awful thing I have ever eaten. Imagine how liver tastes after you bombard it with ultra fish flavoring.
I live down the street from a restaurant that serves raw whale meat. I've eaten it as a side dish. I don't understand the appeal at all. Then again, it's not part of my, um, heritage.
I did go to the festival last year. It's kind of fun. Hopefully Kara or someone like that will be there this year.
I was in Pohang a year ago and saw many whale-meat restaurants. I was surprised because I didn't realise then that it was legal in any capacity.
That law strikes me as a little Korean, though... One of those laws that's designed simply to make the country appear fair and decent, but protect the ballsy ajussis who'll continue to make money off the suffering of whales.
3:
I did not mean sickening in a taste sense.
I think whales should be protected, not eaten.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/06/201062162858524672.html
Reality Zone, I agree with you that whales should be protected. Just FYI though, whale is horrible, I don't see why anyone would eat one. It is greasy, and the grease stays in your mouth over night. You wake up the next morning and you can still taste whale.
If people aren't persuaded to not eat whale because of environmental protection, I hope that they can be scared into not trying it by just knowing how awful it is.
your dates are wrong. It's the 26-29th of May
not in July
My dates are fine. This post is about the 2010 festival.
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