PHOTOS Rally's cry: 'Japan! No Whaling'

An anti-whaling campaigner holds a placard at a street rally in central Seoul, Wednesday. The rally, organized by seven local environmental organizations, took place before Japan's resumption of commercial whaling on July 1, following a three-decade hiatus. Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in December to resume commercial whaling despite international criticism. According to Japanese media, a whaling fleet of five vessels will leave Hokkaido on July 1. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Japanese vessels will hunt whales in nearby waters and within the country's exclusive economic zone. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Campaigners stage a mock killing of a whale during an anti-whaling rally in central Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Around 200,000 tons of whale meat was reportedly consumed in Japan each year in the 1960s, but the figure has fallen to about 5,000 tons in recent years. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul