South Korea is planning to ban eating dog meat; the ancient practice has brought much criticism from around the world.

A ruling party official made the announcement Friday, according to Reuters. The outlet also said the country’s young people have been increasingly opposed to such consumption:

The report continued:

“It is time to put an end to social conflicts and controversies around dog meat consumption through the enactment of a special act to end it,” Yu Eui-dong, policy chief of the ruling People Power Party, said at a meeting with government officials and animal rights activists.

The government and ruling party would introduce a bill this year to enforce a ban, Yu said, adding that with expected bipartisan support, the bill should sail through parliament.

However, the Associated Press (AP) reported in July that dog meat farmers in South Korea were in disagreement with those who want the practice banned.

The outlet noted one farmer’s dogs “are fed ground chicken and food waste. They are rarely released for exercise and typically are sold for meat one year after they are born”:

According to Breitbart News, South Korea is among a few countries where “dog farming for meat is a formal industry, meaning long-established dog meat farms enjoy political and economic power.”

Meanwhile, the outlet reported in July that the end of China’s coronavirus lockdowns, tourism, and police corruption made 2023’s Yulin Dog Meat and Lychee Festival one of its biggest, animal rights activists said.

The report detailed the event:

Yulin, in China’s southern Guangxi province, has been hosting the event since 2010, when dog meat traders began using the summer solstice on June 21 to promote their industry. The event typically consists of the establishment of open-air booths and tables in which vendors bus in dogs, and sometimes cats, and kill them alive in public, then cook them through various methods. Both living dogs and carcasses — on tables and hung up, or impaled on the ground — line the streets, offering dog meat for immediate consumption or to take home. Many of the dogs are credibly believed to be stolen pets, illegally seized from heartbroken owners and served as street food.

Per the Reuters report about South Korea, the agriculture minister said officials would swiftly put the ban in place and support workers in the dog meat trade who will lose their businesses.