South Korea Struggles to Address Historic Dog Meat Trade While Becoming Cultural Power

A lack of demand among youth and growing global disgust as the nation amasses cultural and economic prestige are forcing South Korea to reconsider its longstanding tradition of consuming dog meat – a custom it has never regulated legally, the Associated Press detailed in a report on Monday.

South Korea is one of the few countries in the world in which dog farming for meat is a formal industry, meaning long-established dog meat farms enjoy political and economic power.

One dog meat far owner, Kim Jong-kil, told the Associated Press in its report that he felt animal rights campaigns against the practice of eating meat were a direct threat to his ability to feed his family.

“It’s more than just feeling bad. I absolutely oppose these moves, and we’ll mobilize all our means to resist it,” Kim told the AP.

South Korea does not regulate dogs the way it does other livestock, so law enforcement authorities have little to no resources to discourage farming dogs for food – nor can dog meat farmers point to any statute explicitly protecting their trade. While a long-established practice for centuries in Korea, eating dog meat has become a growing liability in the country’s extensive efforts to become an entertainment and cultural power on par with Western states.

Through well-funded “training camps” for actors, singers, and dancers, South Korea has churned out some of the best-selling entertainment of the past decade. Boy band BTS, prior to its disbandment last year, was arguably the world’s most popular music act, becoming the first Korean-language act to top the U.S. Billboard charts and getting an invite to the White House last year. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s 2020 film Parasite became the first non-English movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture that year. The streaming service Netflix has described the South Korean television series Squid Game as an unprecedented success – and with actors and writers in Hollywood on strike, Seoul is well-poised to attract producers and streamers looking to fill the void.

Left-wing South Korean lawmaker Han Jeoungae, who introduced the latest bill to ban the dog meat industry last month, told the Associated Press that the ancient practice jeopardizes the gains South Korea has made in elevating its global profile.

“Foreigners think South Korea is a cultural powerhouse. But the more K-culture increases its international standing, the bigger shock foreigners experience over our dog meat consumption,” Han explained.

That shock has hurt South Korea diplomatically. In February, for example, an attempt to establish a student exchange program between Incheon and Palisades Park, New Jersey, fell through because Palisades Park leaders faced pressure from animal rights groups not to engage a country where dog consumption is still accepted. Palisades Park officials explicitly mentioned “negative public opinion” regarding dog meat consumption in its cancelation of the program, which would have allowed Korean students to learn English and American culture in an immersive environment.

Han’s bill followed an increasingly loud campaign by the ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP) – led by First Lady Kim Keon-hee – to eradicate dog eating. In remarks last year, Kim explicitly mentioned discomfort in the international community over the practice as a reason to outlaw it.

“I believe the universal culture should be shared with developed countries because it can create negative sentiment against South Korea,” Kim said in an interview with Seoul Shinmun. “Not consuming dog meat is ultimately an expression of respect for man’s best friend and it also means respect for life.”

Kim outraged dog meat farmers in April by declaring outlawing eating dogs as a policy priority for her.

“I will try to put an end to dog meat consumption before the tenure of this government ends. I think that is my duty,” she affirmed, prompting dog meat farmers to protest that South Korean law does not give the first lady any political power.

“Siding with animal rights groups, which are interest groups, and calling for banning dog meat consumption is obvious political activity that exceeds her authority,” a group of individuals in the dog meat industry said in a joint letter protesting her statement.

The PPP introduced a bill to ban dog meat consumption before Han of the Democratic Party. North Korean defector turned lawmaker Tae Yong-ho introduced such a bill in April, the same month Kim expressed her vocal support for the move. In a rare moment in the cutthroat world of Korean politics, the Democratic Party stated it would support the PPP’s efforts.

“The culture of eating dogs and cats should be rooted out in an era where 15 million people raise animals,” Tae said upon introducing his bill. “Like first lady Kim Keon Hee said, the ruling and opposition parties and the government should take the lead in animal rights protection.”

Tae was suspended from the PPP in May over a series of incendiary remarks unrelated to the issue, leaving the Democratic Party’s Han to pick up the lawmaking. While enthusiastically opposed by those in the dog meat industry, both Tae’s and Han’s bills offer financial incentives for farmers to leave the trade – addressing a major concern farmers have that they will no longer be able to make a living if the government suddenly bans their livelihood.

Those farmers are facing a major economic threat unrelated to the law, however: young South Korean are increasingly not interested in eating dogs. The practice has been in decline for years – the Korea JoongAng Daily reported on despondent dog meat mongers in 2007 lamenting that “not even a fly comes by” to buy dog meat anymore – and farming in particular has faced a significant collapse.

“The number of farms across South Korea has dropped by half from a few years ago to about 3,000 to 4,000, and about 700,000 to 1 million dogs are slaughtered each year,” the AP reported on Monday, “a decline from several million 10 to 20 years ago, according to the dog farmers’ association.”

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