Japan defies international criticism, United Nations legal ruling that ‘research’ expedition is commercial hunt for whales in disguise TOKYO — Japan announced it would send a whaling fleet to the Antarctic on Tuesday after a one-year suspension, defying international criticism and a United Nations (UN) legal ruling that the "research" expedition is a commercial hunt in disguise.Tokyo has for years come under intense global pressure to stop hunts that opponents decry as inhumane, but the government defends them as an inherent part of Japanese culture. Conservation group Sea Shepherd Australia said it would use its own ship to follow the mission, which Japan’s Fisheries Agency said in a statement on Monday would aim to kill a total of 333 minke whales.The group has clashed with Japanese whaling ships in the past."Any illegal activity we come across we’ll engage, our history speaks for itself," said Sea Shepherd Australia director Jeff Hansen.The UN’s highest court, the International C...
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