Korea was reported in most of the illegal whaling cases filed with the International Whaling Commission last year, figures showed Sunday.
South Korea accounted for 21 out of the 23 total illegal whaling cases reported to the IWC in 2011, according to an IWC report obtained by Yonhap News Agency.
The two other cases were reported from Alaska in the United States and Greenland.
IWC members are required to report any illegal whaling to the commission.
Twenty-two South Korean fishermen were given prison terms or fined for catching 23 minke whales along South Korea's east coast, where whale meat consumption has long been widespread.
South Korea expressed its intention last week to resume whaling for scientific research, which was met by an outcry from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and some other countries.
The U.S. and others say "scientific purposes" is just a pretext for commercial whaling, just like Japan has been doing for decades.
Critics of the whaling said more than 4,700 whales have been illegally caught along South Korean coasts since 2000.
An official of Ulsan City, the southeastern port city seen as the local hub of whaling, said the city government is building facilities to dispose of whales to be caught with the purpose of scientific research.
The construction of the facilities will be completed by the latter half of 2013, said an official requesting anonymity.
"We expect the central government to conduct research on the number of dolphins, minke whales and other whales along the coasts before setting quotas for each," the official said, hoping such a quota system will help eradicate illegal whaling.
About 600 whales are believed to be consumed in South Korea each year, with half caught illegally.
"Most Ulsan citizens welcome the government's decision to resume whaling, as we have been consuming whale meat for so long," said Ko Jung-koo, head of a civic group advocating for whale meat consumption. "Whaling for the scientific purposes is better than illegal whaling, which can endanger whales."
During an annual IWC meeting which ended Friday in Panama City, Japan and Denmark asked for small-scale whaling, although the commission has banned commercial whaling since 1986 amid concerns about the extinction of whales. (Yonhap)