SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea said it will formally end its dwindling yet much-criticized bear bile farming industry this week, though about 200 bears are still kept in pens and bred for their gall bladders.

The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced Tuesday it will ban breeding and possession of bears and extraction of their bile beginning Jan. 1. The change is in line with a revised animal rights protection law that imposes up to two or five years of prison sentences to violators.

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