End of tradition? South Korea to form consultative group on dog meat consumption

Posted: 25 Nov 2021 22:14 GMT

The advisory team will be made up of 20 experts, civil activists and officials of the Executive, who will hold discussions on the subject until April of the following year.

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum announced on Thursday that his government will form an advisory group, led by civil activists, to consider a possible ban on the consumption of dog meat, reports the Yonhap agency.

“With the sharp increase in the number of households with companion animals and the growing interest of the public opinion for the rights and welfare of animals, we are witnessing an increase in appeals against consumption of dog meat as part of an ancient food culture, “Kim said during a government meeting.

The advisory group will be composed of 20 experts, civil activists and officials of the Executive, who will hold discussions on the subject until April of the following year. In addition, it is planned to create an entity, at the level of vice ministers, to prepare an action plan, collect the opinions of interested parties and carry out relevant investigations.

Kim’s proposal follows an approach by President Moon Jae-in, who last September expressed the need to “carefully study the prohibition” of the practice.

Is there consensus?

The government’s initiative did not sit well with the country’s agricultural sector. Thus, Ju Yeongbong, general secretary of an association of dog breeders, accused the authorities of “trample“The right of these to subsist and that of the population to eat what they want, details AP.

Meanwhile, Lee Won Bok, head of the Korean Association for the Protection of Animals, crossed out the decision of “very disappointing“and criticized the Executive’s plan for lack of concrete proposals on how to get to prohibit the consumption of that meat.

“Although the K-pop group BTS and the Squid Game occupy the first place in the world ‘ranking’, the foreigners keep associating to South Korea with dog meat and the Korean War, “lamented Lee.

This month, a survey by Realmeter found that 48.9% of South Koreans oppose a legislative ban on the consumption of canine meat, while 38.6% are in favor of the idea.

According to data from Lee’s organization, between a million and a million and a half dogs are slaughtered in the country each year. Such figures are lower than those of 10-20 years ago.