South Korea’s dog meat supporters threaten to let 2 million dogs out near presidential office

SEOUL - An umbrella group for those in the dog meat industry in South Korea has vowed to hold a protest on Nov 30 against

the government’s move to ban dog meat consumption,

while allegedly threatening to release two million dogs around the presidential office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

Daehan Yukgyeon Hyephoi (Dog Meat Federation), a group consisting of dog meat farm operators and dog meat restaurant owners across the country, has recently decided to hold a protest in front of the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, just across the street from the office of President Yoon Suk-yeol.

The group has warned that it will release the dogs in Yongsan and in front of Agriculture Minister Chung Hwang-keun’s residence in South Chungcheong province.

“Each participant will be there with at least one dog. Whether or not the dogs will be released will be left to the discretion of each participant,” the group told local media.

The Yoon government and ruling party are intending to propose legislation that would ban dog meat sales by 2027, which is when Mr Yoon’s term is set to end.

The special Bill would outlaw farming dogs for meat, slaughtering them, distributing the meat, and restaurants and any businesses related to dog meat. Violators of the proposed law would be subject to criminal punishment.

If the special Bill is passed in the National Assembly, those in the dog meat industry will be granted a three-year grace period.

The government’s drive to end dog meat consumption, backed feverishly by First Lady Kim Keon-hee, has touched off controversy in South Korea, where eating dog meat is not common but has never been restricted by law.

An August 2022 poll by Gallup Korea of 1,514 adults across the country showed that 85.5 per cent of respondents do not eat dog meat, while 80.7 per cent said they never plan to. A government-civilian committee launched in 2022 on the legislation of a dog meat ban did research across the country and found that there were 1,156 farms in South Korea breeding dogs for meat, and some 1,600 restaurants consumed an annual average of 388,000 dogs.

Over half of South Koreans – 55.8 per cent – think that eating dog meat should be discontinued, while 28.4 per cent think the practice should continue as is, the Gallup poll showed.

Those in the dog meat industry say that the government plan lacks any specific measures to support a transition to other livelihoods if the Bill is passed. The Dog Meat Federation has urged the government to postpone the plan for the time being, as the majority of the those involved in the industry are in their 60s and near retirement. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK