hankyoreh

Members of Animal Liberation Wave hold a press conference outside of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office on June 2 in protest of prosecutors’ decision to not indict protesters who threw live fish onto the ground. (provided by ALW)

“On a fundamental level, no animals in the world are intended for consumption. When you get right down to it, the yellowtail and red seabream that prosecutors argue are ‘fish for consumption’ are wild animals that ought to live in the ocean.”

On Thursday, an animal rights group held a press conference in front of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, in Yangcheon District, protesting the prosecution service’s decision not to indict a protester who had flung live fish onto the ground. The press conference was organized by the group Animal Liberation Wave, which submitted a written protest to the prosecution service on the same day.

Members of Animal Liberation Wave hold a press conference outside of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office on June 2 in protest of prosecutors’ decision to not indict protesters who threw live fish onto the ground. (provided by ALW)

On May 10, the 1st Criminal Division (under Kim Won-ji) at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office decided not to charge a member of the South Gyeongsang Province Fish Farmers’ Association with violating the Animal Protection Act for hurling live yellowtail and red seabream onto the asphalt during a demonstration in November 2020. Prosecutors concluded that the fish, which had been imported from Japan, were intended for consumption, and were therefore not subject to the Animal Protection Act.

“Even if the species of yellowtail and red seabream have been bred for the purpose of consumption, excluding all individuals of those species from the protection of the Animal Protection Act represents discrimination against those species. The prosecution service has disregarded the purpose and status of the Animal Protection Act, which was created to protect vertebrates with sophisticated nervous systems that are capable of feeling pain,” Animal Liberation Wave said at their press conference.

“The Korean Animal Protection Act’s exclusion of ‘animals for consumption’ is supposed to prevent the punishment of the abuse that inevitably occurs when animals are eaten. But prosecutors’ arbitrary and twisted interpretation of this means that people can’t be held responsible for abusing animals for consumption regardless of the type or frequency of that abuse,” said Kim Do-hui, the attorney who reported the incident to the authorities.

After the press conference, activists wearing masks representing yellowtail and red seabream flopped to the ground one by one, reenacting the pain of the fish killed in the demonstration.

Ten or so demonstrators who were present held placards that said, “Fish feel pain, too” and “We oppose the abuse of fish,” in criticism of the prosecutors’ decision.

By Kim Ji-suk, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]