(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — The director general of the Korea Bear Breeding Cooperative Association was fined for extracting bile from Asiatic black bears without having the authority to do, selling the substance to producers of cosmetics products.
The Supreme Court revealed Sunday that it confirmed the original verdict of 1 million one in fines for Kim, the head of the association. In addition to the confirmation, the association was also fined 500,000 won.
Kim imported an Asiatic black bear for the purpose of extracting bile for medicinal use. He was fined for selling 35 kilograms of bile extracted on September, 2013 and February, 2015.
Kim sold the bile for 3.85 million won to a cosmetics company.
In a separate occasion, Kim received 8 million won in exchange for lending one of the black bears to a zoo in Changwon between April and November of 2011.
The Supreme Court decided that Kim’s decision to sell the bile to cosmetics producers instead of its original intent of medicinal use went against the current laws, as did his lending of the bear to the zoo.
In earlier decisions, the lower courts fined Kim 1 million won for “committing the crime while knowing that selling bear bile for purposes other than what was stated for import was against the law.”
The Supreme Court judged that the lower courts’ decision was correct.
H. S. Seo (hsseo@koreabizwire.com)
