By Choe Chong-dae

I recently returned from a summer vacation at a small fishing village in Ulsan where I tasted with relish whale meat, with its unique aroma.

This special dish was served appropriately at a picturesque restaurant by the bay. For the record, whale hunting is banned in Ulsan these days and the sale of whale meat is restricted in Korea to whales that are already dead when they are found, or to whales which have been accidentally snared in a fisherman's net.

The foreign name of ``Liancourt Rocks'' has been used to refer to Dokdo, Korean's eastern-most islets, in some contemporary books and maps. The name is derived from ``Le Liancourt,'' the name of a French whaling ship which sought out the ocean's gentle leviathans around the Dokdo islets and around Ulsan Bay in 1849.

From the early 19th century, many Western commercial whaling ships set out on the long but lucrative voyage across the Pacific Ocean on trips that included the eastern coast of Korea. The substantial quantity of oil obtained from whale's blubber was utilized for lighting, lubricating and for producing perfume, cosmetics and margarine. In this sense, whale oil was regarded as gold.

Korea was a whaling nation from ancient times. Koreans began hunting whales as far back as the Neolithic period in the seas around Ulsan. Modern Ulsan has been developed into Korea's largest industrial complex, with no trace remaining of these ancient whaling times. Ulsan Bay, located on the eastern coast of Korea, is a narrow, long trench gifted with deep recesses. From prehistoric times its interior depths were a well-traveled migratory route and habitat for gray whales. As a result, Jangsaengpo Port, Ulsan, became a popular outpost for whalers, which made Ulsan a central city for the international whaling industry.

The relationship between Ulsan and whales dates back to pre-historic times. There is historical evidence of a whale-hunting civilization in the ancient engraved rock art at Bangudae. The Bangudae petroglyphs are carved on a rock panel that depicts prehistoric people and about 270 sea creatures, such as whales and turtles as well as land prey such as tigers and wild boars. The carving features people on their boat, with large fishing nets, spears and shields. The picture represents a whaling vessel used to hunt gray whales and sperm whales, and is proof that whaling was done by Korean people in prehistoric times.

It is estimated that the large number of drawings of whales on the rock panels of Bangudae date back more than 4,000-5,000 years. The drawings detail precise observations of whales' behavior and 10 species of whales migrating through the sea near Ulsan can be identified in the pictures.

The Bangudae area is known for its tranquility and natural beauty all year around. However, the rocks on which the petroglyphs are carved are now periodically flooded for many months a year. The summer rains are welcome in some respects as they fill the nearby Sayeom Dam, but this benefit comes at the cost of submerging a remarkable prehistoric artwork below water.

I harbor deep and nostalgic feelings for the Bangudae rock art, as my father, a pioneer of Korean archeology, and I visited the Bangudae site to explore the prehistoric engraved rock art in the late 1960s. Unfortunately, I could not examine the precious rock art as it was covered by the water of the Sayeom Dam, an artificial lake built to supply water to the nearby Ulsan.

Subsequently, my father provided Prof. Hwang Soo-yeong, director of Dongguk University's museum at that time, with important information relating to the Bangudae site. On hearing from my father that there might be some ancient petroglyphs on rocks at the Bangudae site, Prof. Hwang explored the site many times with his colleagues. Prof. Hwang's research teams were fortunate to locate the remarkable engraved rock art in the winter of 1971 when the waters of Sayeom Dam were at such a low ebb that the rock art could be easily located.

Our ancestors who left us the prehistoric rock engravings and rock art are now recognized as possessing outstanding technical abilities and a complex culture. This invaluable source of prehistoric information is not only a precious cultural heritage, but is also notable for the valuable information it contains about ancient Korea, and also about the history of the international whaling industry.

In particular, the engraved rock art demonstrates to us that life has not changed all that much over time, as whale hunting was a thriving business in Ulsan up until the early 1980s.

It is my hope that the Ulsan Metropolitan City and the central government will institute a special policy to better protect and preserve the unique Bangudae site with its ancient petroglyphs, against periodic flooding, which irrevocably erode and damage this irreplaceable prehistoric legacy to the detriment of the nation's past, present and future.

The writer is president of Dae-Kwang International Co., and the Korean representative for Compagnie Cotonniere of Paris, France. He is also a long time director of Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at dkic98@chol.com.