Here we go again with the media and activists bashing South Korea over dog meat restaurants:
Canadian figure skater Meagan Duhamel poses with her dog she saved from the South Korean dog meat trade. (AP).
As the planet sets its eyes on PyeongChang, South Korea, for the next two weeks to watch world-class grace and athleticism, an ugly subset of the country’s culture is seeing increased exposure from the Olympic spotlight.
The dog meat trade.
Around 2 million dogs each year are bred on dog meat farms for human consumption in South Korea, according to the Associated Press. They are often raised in cruel conditions, beaten or left without food before they are slaughtered. It’s a practice deeply ingrained in South Korean culture, with many believing that eating dog meat increases virility and energy.
It has become more taboo as younger generations have come to view dogs as pets rather than food. The AP reports that one in five households in South Korea keep a dog or cat as a pet.
With the arrival of the Olympics, pressure on the dog meat industry in PyeongChang has mounted. There are 12 dog meat restaurants in the city, and the local government has asked them to shutter or change their menus during the Games, even offering subsidies. [Yahoo Sports]
You can read more at the link, but eating dog meat is not “deeply ingrained in South Korean culture”. Hardly anyone eats dog meat anymore in South Korea. With that said if someone wants to eat dog why should the fact that Westerners think they are cute and cuddly matter? My biggest problem with dog farming in South Korea is that some of these farmers are very inhumane with dogs raised in small cages and then beaten to death to better tenderize the meat.
When I was in Korea in the mid-80s, I went to a dog meat restaurant a few times which was located across the street (Ch’ong-ro?) from the US Embassy, two or three streets in from that main road. It was never empty of customers — always small groups of men who were there to drink Chinese wine and partake of dog soup (boshin t’ang). The AP article is correct in that dog meat is believed to enhance virility and stamina. I do think the way the Korean government is handling the presence of dog meat restaurants shows how the political culture has changed: When the last Olympics occurred, the dog meat restaurants located on major streets were given notice to close or move, and those who didn’t comply were treated with visits by government-paid goon squads who trashed the places to force them out. On another note regarding its presence in Korean culture, those of you who read classical Chinese might note that the original character for “meat” includes the character for “dog”, reflective of its extensive use in ancient China. And Korea’s main cultural influence for two millenia was China. BTW, the reason the dogs are beaten before slaughter is to get the adrenaline pumping into the meat in order to increase its potency.
They only generate racism wherever they go.
When I was in Korea in the mid-80s, I went to a dog meat restaurant a few times which was located across the street (Ch’ong-ro?) from the US Embassy, two or three streets in from that main road. It was never empty of customers — always small groups of men who were there to drink Chinese wine and partake of dog soup (boshin t’ang). The AP article is correct in that dog meat is believed to enhance virility and stamina. I do think the way the Korean government is handling the presence of dog meat restaurants shows how the political culture has changed: When the last Olympics occurred, the dog meat restaurants located on major streets were given notice to close or move, and those who didn’t comply were treated with visits by government-paid goon squads who trashed the places to force them out. On another note regarding its presence in Korean culture, those of you who read classical Chinese might note that the original character for “meat” includes the character for “dog”, reflective of its extensive use in ancient China. And Korea’s main cultural influence for two millenia was China. BTW, the reason the dogs are beaten before slaughter is to get the adrenaline pumping into the meat in order to increase its potency.
Is that how they make hot dogs?