[Letters] Bear bile tourism

In regards to your feature titled “Vietnamese urge Koreans not to travel for bear bile” on Oct. 28, 2009, written by Joe Moon:

I’ll admit I was not surprised that tourists from Korea were caught taking part in the illegal trade of protected animals, particularly considering Korea’s lax enforcement of its own animal welfare laws. I was surprised that it has received media attention here as traditionally the media is nearly irresponsible when it comes to reporting on animal welfare issues and news especially compared to the coverage these issues receive in other first and second world economies.

So for the staff and writers of the JoongAng, keep up the good work and I sincerely hope to see news like this continue to make it into your pages and, as the Republic of Korea becomes progressive, that news like this will actually make it in the press in the Korean language. Cheers,

Joe Waller, joewaller@gmail.com