The main food dog breed in Korea is the Nureongi, or Korean Edible Dog, which is different from those breeds kept as pets. However, in 2015, there were reports in the media that in addition to the Nureong breed, many other dog breeds are also used for food in Korea, including former pets. Various dog breeds are also eaten in many other parts of East and South Asia, including parts of China and the Philippines.

Only a small percentage of the population in Korea regularly eat dog meat, despite the fact that up to 30% of South Koreans have tasted dogs at least once in their lives. In Korea, there is a large musical group of people who oppose the practice of eating dog meat. However, this meat also has a large group of supporters who advocate the preservation of the traditional culture of Korea with its centuries-old history.

According to the BBC News Service, in 2003 there were approximately 4,000-6,000 restaurants in Korea serving soups made from dog meat. These soups cost about $10, and steamed dog meat dishes with rice cost about $25. The BBC claims that up to 8,500 tons of dog meat is consumed in Korean kitchens a year.

Dog meat is most commonly consumed during the summer months, in the form of soups or stews. It is believed that such soups provide good health by balancing the vital energy of the body.

International attention

In 1988, the South Korean government urged its citizens during the Seoul Summer Olympics not to eat dog meat to avoid publicity. Also at this time, all restaurants serving the most popular dog meat dishes were closed in order to improve the image of the country. However, in 1998, an op-ed article reported that despite a ten-year official government ban, nearly 20,000 restaurants continued to serve dog meat dishes.

Discussions on this difficult topic for the country flared up again in 2001 during the World Cup. The organizers of the championship, under pressure from the animal rights group, demanded that the Korean government find possible ways to resolve the issue. The animal rights movement has prompted people to boycott unless the government bans the sale of dog meat in restaurants in Seoul. However, this move proved unfair and inappropriate for a large number of Koreans and did not change the situation.

Discussions about eating dog meat in Korea

Some people in Korea who eat boshintang (translated as "invigorating soup") believe that it has medicinal properties, and in particular increases male energy. Dog meat is believed by the Koreans to help maintain heat balance and can help prevent overheating during hot weather, although in China dog meat is eaten mostly during the winter months as the Chinese believe it does the opposite to increase heat. Despite this, there is no scientific evidence to support these properties and health benefits of eating dog meat.

Many Korean Buddhists consider eating dog meat a crime. Unlike beef, pork, or poultry, dog meat does not have legal food status in South Korea. Consequently, farms that grow and prepare dogs of various breeds operate in a semi-legal position. As a result, there are no regulations in Korea requiring the humane slaughter of dogs for meat.

The controversy surrounding the consumption of dog meat focuses on methods of slaughter that include electrocution, strangulation by hanging, and physical beating of the dog to death. Sometimes still living dogs are thrown into boiling water to remove their hair. Some people in South Korea believe that dog meat should be legalized so that legal producers can work more humanely and comply with hygiene requirements. However, again, many people believe that this practice should be prohibited by law altogether.

Recently, some Koreans have changed their attitude towards eating dog meat and consider it "unnecessary cruelty." Since 1988, international animal rights activists have regularly spoken out against the consumption of dog meat in South Korea. However, Korean nationalists defend traditional Korean food and accuse animal rights activists of forcing "Westernization". A survey by the Korean Ministry of Agriculture in 2007 found that 59% of Koreans under the age of 30 did not want to eat dogs. 62% of people in the same age group said they consider dogs to be pets, not food. Many young Koreans consider those who eat dogs to be anachronistic.

One day a TV reporter heard that some Swiss were eating dog meat in the Alps and visited an Alpine village. When the film crew arrived in the village, they saw a small black dog frolicking in front of the house. The next day they visited the same house, but unfortunately the dog was gone. But in the kitchen, the reporter found pieces of meat. The Swiss refused to say where the dog is and what kind of meat it is. Is it necessary to say that no one else saw the dog?

Once in one of the Western newspapers there was a small article about an American who visited a restaurant in Manchuria. The visitor asked if there were hot dogs on the menu. The Chinese chef was not strong in English, however, some words seemed familiar to him, such as hot (hot eng. - hot) and dog (dog eng. - dog). After a while, the American was brought a plate of hot meat soup. "What is it?" the American asked in surprise. “What you ordered is hot dog!” – with a good-natured smile answered the Chinese.

In Korea, there is an unusual dish called 보신탕 (boshintang), a health-boosting soup. Some also call it dietary. And ... yes, it is made from dog meat. Many foreigners visiting Korea ask, "Is it true that Koreans eat dogs?"

A long time ago, when the Olympic Games were held in Korea, several Western media portrayed Koreans as dog meat-eating savages. Because of what, when Koreans are asked this question, they cannot give a logical answer or are completely embarrassed. But should Koreans really be ashamed of this part of their culture?

Northern China (Manchuria) and Korea are very cold in winter. Therefore, in ancient times it was difficult to raise cattle and almost impossible to eat meat, because the cow was used as the main tool in agriculture. Of course, that beef was a rarity. This was the reason that the peasants began to breed dogs for food. Yellow dogs, as food dogs are called, grew well even in the cold season without special food and care. In fact, such dogs were stray and were never pets. It used to be uncommon in Korea to have any tender feelings for stray dogs that ate garbage and dung.

According to scientific research, dog meat is easily absorbed by the human body and gives strength. Since ancient times in Korea, dried dog meat has been used in medicine along with medicinal herbs. Many Koreans believe that eating a dog improves the quality of their sex life, however, this fact has not been scientifically proven.

Koreans still cannot forgive the animal rights activist and famous French actress Brigitte Bordeaux, who at one time officially asked them to stop eating dog meat, while saying that the nation that eats dogs is a nation of savages. She also promised to boycott Korean products if the consumption of dog meat does not stop in Korea. The Koreans were sincerely surprised and did not understand why, in this case, the actress would not refuse to buy French-made goods, because they are made by the hands of the French, who eat frogs, snails and foie gras.

It is worth noting that in modern Korea, dog meat soup is not included in the daily diet, but is a delicacy.

Almost every Westerner knows that in Korea they eat dogs. This is generally one of the main stereotypes associated with Koreans. Fewer people have heard that Koreans are afraid of cats. However, knowledge about the role that four-legged pets familiar to us play in Korean culture, as a rule, is limited to this. Meanwhile, in reality, everything is somewhat more complicated: not every Korean dog is destined to end his life with a soup set, and cats are gradually turning from heroes of frightening legends and horror films into a status attribute of a successful and advanced person.

Not only food, but also a friend

In Korean national cuisine, dog meat dishes are indeed found. The most famous of them is posinthan. The name can be roughly translated as "longevity soup". Consumed primarily in the heat of summer, this soup is said to cure arthritis, sweating, impotence, and other ailments. However, dog meat is by no means an everyday food, and idle talk that Koreans sell dog meat under the guise of pork looks almost like "they sold sturgeon, passing it off as pollock." After all, a dog is a predator, and it must be fed with meat, which will take more to feed it than it will produce “useful” meat. So this is largely seasonal food, partly used to attract exotic lovers.

There are several native dog breeds in Korea, and not all of them are edible. The most famous - chindokke - outwardly resembles a short-haired husky or Japanese inu and is distinguished by a special mind and quick wit. As far back as the 1990s, food dogs were actively sold in Korea in seasonal markets, and it was similar to how chickens or piglets are sold in our bazaars, which can be slaughtered right in the presence of the buyer.

Of course, the tradition of dog-eating causes culture shock among Europeans, although in other food traditions, eating frogs or eating dairy products is no less disgusting. In addition, animal rights activists oppose the “barbaric tradition of slaughter,” and when the Olympics were to be held in Seoul in 1988, animal rights activists forced the government to remove all taverns that served dog meat in the depths of neighborhoods so that their signs would not catch the eye of foreigners. However, when in 2002, during the World Cup, fighters against posinthang again launched a campaign, the Korean government responded differently: “This is our national tradition, we do not impose it on anyone or advertise it, but this is our right. Therefore, we will not take any action to limit posinthan.”

At the present time, the attitude towards dogs (and in fact - towards pets in general) is influenced not only by globalization, but also by urbanization. In the big city, the animal loses its traditional agricultural role and becomes a pet. In part, four-legged pets serve as a surrogate for children, in part - a status symbol: since the footage of the average Korean apartment does not allow keeping pets, either a wealthy person or a desperate fashionista can own pets.

These considerations also determine the choice of animals that the Koreans have. On the one hand, caring for a pet should not take much time, on the other hand, communication with him should be active. Large dogs require too much time and space, and birds and fish do not provide the proper level of communication. There are either decorative dogs or cats, whose life in Korea will be discussed in more detail.

Scary and terrible

Cats appeared in Korea in the 11th-12th centuries, and since the 17th century they can be seen in traditional paintings, where they bask among flowers or watch birds. However, from at least the end of the 19th century until the beginning of this century, the cat evoked a mixture of disgust and superstitious horror among Koreans. There is a curious story about how a Korean prince visited an American mission where cats were kept to fight mice. When he, who was considered a reformer and generally a progressive person, a kitten jumped into his lap, the prince was so frightened that he fainted.

Korean Fears

In traditional Korean culture, the fear of cats is one of the most common superstitions. It can only compete with the fear of the number "four" (in Chinese, the word "four" is consonant with the word "die"; from China, the superstitious horror of the "four" spread to Korea and Japan) and the belief that the fan is not turned off at night slowly sucking the life out of a person.

There are still many superstitions associated with cats. For example, Koreans believe that on the last night of the old year, a terrible demonic cat searches for shoes left outside the door near the houses. And if he finds them, then he does something completely different with shoes than you thought - the infernal animal tries on shoes, thereby changing the entire future fate of their owner for the worse. The spirit of the deceased can hold on to the tail of a cat that enters the house, but it also happens that the spirit of a murdered woman can inhabit the cat itself. The last superstition, however, appeared under the influence of Japanese films about werecats, which were not shown in Korea until the 1990s as part of the fight against Japanese cultural expansion, but they regularly remade their plots in a Korean way. By the way, some Korean nationalists even explained to the author of these lines their dislike for cats as follows: “The most famous cat is the maneki-neko. Maneki-neko is the symbol of Japan. And what good can be from the colonialists?

Photo: Zuma / Panoramic / Global Look

It is mainly stray cats who suffer from this attitude, of which there are from 30 to 200 thousand in Seoul (depending on who counted). Their appearance is usually frightened and tattered. In addition, some traditional medicine doctors consider cat meat a cure for joint pain, so in some seasonal markets they also sell cats that are destined to become food. Often compassionate Europeans save them from this fate. However, compared to posinthan, "cat tincture" is much less common, and animal advocates are actively debunking the myth of its usefulness.

The wind of change

The life of cats in Korea began to change for the better only in the last 10-15 years. The love for cats, which has taken over the Internet, and the popularity of anime "kawaii neko", and a certain increase in the standard of living, which reduces the need to throw out aggression on stray animals, also affect. True, a dog is still considered a favorite pet, and only about one in 5,000 Koreans keeps a cat. At the same time, as a rule, this is an expensive thoroughbred cat, a sign of status, the price of which can be twice as high as the European one.

The attitude towards stray cats is also changing. They appear not only at Buddhist temples, as before, but also near some taverns, where they are fed by foreigners. It is considered bad manners to take a stray cat home, they say, this is his karma - to live on the street. But there are those who regularly feed these cats. The attitude towards these people in society is not very good: it is believed that only those who have no friends and no career are doing this. Therefore, compassionate Koreans feed street cats in the dark.

One of the unsportsmanlike leitmotifs of the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang was the struggle of animal rights activists and all animal sympathizers with the old Korean tradition of eating dog meat.

It all started with the fact that the bronze medalist of the team race Dutch speed skater Jan Blockhuysen at a press conference either out of annoyance that he had to settle for third place, or out of real concern, he accused the Koreans of treating dogs badly. “Please treat dogs better in this country,” advised Blockhuisen. The Koreans did not really like the athlete’s attack, so they staged a flash mob on social networks, in which they accused the Europeans of interfering in the internal affairs of the country. As a result, the head of the sports delegation of the Netherlands apologized: “I have to touch on the topic of the incident that occurred at the press conference. On behalf of our entire delegation, I offer a formal apology for the athlete's remarks."

Soon, rumors appeared in the media that dog meat was sold in Korea on every corner and even in the Olympic Village, and in public catering every now and then they strive to replace chicken or beef meat (they don’t sympathize so actively with chickens and cows at the Games) for dog meat. Animal rights activists, who had previously not favored cruel Asian traditions, quickly joined the conflict and took to the streets with slogans “A dog is your friend or food”, photos and videos with footage of dogs being killed on Korean farms. Previously, they had already signed a petition calling for a boycott of the Olympics in a country where they eat pets.

“South Korea is the 14th economy in the world, but 2.5 million dogs and thousands of cats are sent to slaughter every year. This is called "healthy eating". Animals are forced to endure deprivation and unimaginable suffering from birth until the day they are killed. And South Koreans truly believe that the more a dog suffers, the more it will enrich the quality of the meat and increase the health benefits of the consumer. If South Korea wants to be respected as a nation of conscience, then the South Koreans should strengthen their animal welfare laws and permanently ban the consumption of dog and cat meat,” the petition reads.

Some Olympians have joined the movement of animal rights activists and decided to save the dogs on their own, which the Koreans let into the “longevity soup”. For example, a gold medal winner Canadian figure skater Megan Duhamel will take home with her a dog that she bought at a dog meat farm. The girl named the puppy Mu-tai and wrote on social networks that he loves to sit in her arms. Now Duhamel encourages all athletes to follow her example. Coach Duhamel was surprised where the athlete found the dog, because there are no such farms near the Olympic Village, and no dogs have been seen.

WHY DOGS EAT IN KOREA

Eating dog meat in Asian countries is an old tradition, only in China dog meat has been used for food since 500 BC. They ate dog meat in ancient times, not only in Asia, but, for example, in Mexico. As for Korea, initially dogs were not perceived there as “friends of man”, but were raised as livestock. Today, nothing has changed in this regard, dogs, like cats, are not pets. According to Koreans, the difference between livestock and a pet is subjective.

There is no religious and mythological explanation in the tradition of eating dogs, he told the correspondent of MIR 24 Candidate of Historical Sciences, Head of the Korean Sector of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Vorontsov. According to him, Koreans, like other Asians, eat dog meat because they believe it is good for health.

“This is a national tradition. Why do some people eat pork and others don't? In the eyes of Muslims, we can all look blasphemous too. Why do you need to go with your charter to someone else's monastery? This is an ancient tradition that was born long before the advent of Europe, and in China already at that time there was a highly developed civilization and a whole class of highly educated people. It's good for health, they say. Many people consume various animals to maintain the health of the body. There is no religious-mythical explanation. Koreans prefer to eat farm-bred dogs, but that doesn't mean a mutt can't get into the pot. Many people talk about the cruel way of killing dogs, but why don't they give a lethal injection to cows, pigs and chickens? Probably, the Dutch would also be outraged if they were told that their national mills were already tired, ”said the historian.

Asians believe that dog meat increases potency and cures tuberculosis, for example, many rice pickers who spend most of their time working in the water suffer from it. Such explanations allow Koreans to keep dog markets, which are horrified by tourists and all those who are not close to this part of Asian culture. Dogs are kept there, and really, like cattle. In cramped cages, 20-30 animals sitting on top of each other. They are slaughtered right in front of the buyers. Today, there are more than 17,000 industrial dog farms in South Korea and 2-2.5 million dogs are slaughtered annually.

But even such conditions of life and death of dogs are the result of the struggle of animal rights activists, including world-class stars. Literally 10 years ago, dogs were slaughtered right on the streets, and not in a specially designated place.

The fact that Koreans, like other Asians, will give up dog meat in the near future is unlikely, Korean experts say. Today, dog meat is a festive food that is not included in the daily diet, said Candidate of Historical Sciences, Institute of Asian and African Countries, Lomonosov Moscow State University Konstantin Asmolov.

“Koreans have long reacted to these accusations like this:“ . Nothing can be done about it." If during the 1988 Olympics, when the Koreans were more dependent on external opinion, they renamed dog soup "longevity soup" and removed such restaurants from the streets, placing them inside alleys and not on big streets, now the Korean position boils down to this: “We don’t drive anyone, we don’t do anything with particular cruelty, we don’t include this food in the mandatory. Whoever wants to be offended, let him be offended, but we are not going to look back at anyone.”

For a number of reasons, the tradition of eating dogs is associated with Korea. Everyone knows that Koreans eat dogs. But the dog is food for festive occasions. All sorts of talk that the Koreans will slip you dog meat under the guise of pork is the same as suggesting that they will cook sturgeon for you and pass it off as pollock. Dog meat is not a daily diet food - it is an elite food for special occasions. But this meat is not very expensive,” Asmolov said.

At the same time, the expert notes that today dogs are eaten less in Korea, and the topic itself often becomes a litmus test for the media and the public. Korean society is not aggressive in discussing this issue. Used to.

“All these things are connected with the fact that, firstly, a more Europeanized generation has appeared, for which a dog is not food, but an object for “usi-pusi”, and secondly, a generation has left that remembers what it is like to live in a village and slaughter livestock there ourselves. Young people are used to the fact that sausage is miraculously produced in their refrigerator. Also, since the Korean public opinion is not very aggressive in this direction, it is a good way to score points on a topic that you can bring up without significant risk. That is why this scandal is not really a scandal. On the one hand, animal rights activists have something to worry about, but on the other hand, have you seen a lot of demonstrations for the rights of French frogs? Please note that in relation to China or Korea, animal rights activists are foaming, and for some reason they forget about other countries where dogs are also eaten, ”Asmolov noted.

Dog killing bans have been introduced in the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong, but experts say the ban has no practical application. Dogs have been killed and are being killed. But there was room for socio-political maneuver and the work of black markets, which are not few, and their activities can no longer be regulated. In Vietnam, even more dogs are killed than in Korea - about five million a year, while even stolen dogs are often used there for meat. The level of dog consumption has continued in Cambodia.

HOW CHINA CELEBRATES THE DEATH OF DOGS

When experts talk about the lack of ritualism in eating dog meat, they still miss one important event that takes place in China. Every year in the city of Yulin, from June 21 to June 30, they celebrate the summer solstice, the most important tradition of which is eating dog meat. For 10 days, city residents slaughter about 10-15 thousand dogs, believing that they drive away the heat of the summer months.

In June 2015, a petition was prepared in the UK demanding a ban on the festival, the initiative collected three million signatures. The Chinese government even went to meet the public and banned the bloody holiday. However, this led to the fact that citizens accused the state of complicity with European influence on the country. The government quickly abandoned the ban, arguing that the Yulin festival was too old a national tradition and that dogs were killed humanely these days. However, footage that occasionally appears online from the Yulin Festival suggests otherwise. Joyful Chinese sit at tables and watch the dogs being killed.

The reason why Koreans began to consider dogs as a valuable food product is related to. Mountains cover most of it, so small plots of land suitable for agriculture were used only for these purposes. There was practically no space for grazing or forage crops, so it was not easy to raise cows, pigs or sheep.

The inhabitants of the central territories did not have access to seafood, so proteins began to be obtained from more affordable dog meat.

Dog meat is a product with a special status

However, the inclusion of this meat in the diet of Koreans does not mean at all that it often appears on the table. Dog meat was originally treated as a seasonal dish, so its use was limited to intervals of two to three months, or even less often. Posinthan is a traditional Korean soup that is considered healing and is consumed only after a protracted illness or severe overwork. On other days in Korea, beef and pork are consumed, which, thanks to artificial feed, has become much easier to obtain.

Traditional Korean medicine used more than just dog meat. It was believed that almost all parts of the body of this animal - including bones, teeth, eyes, blood and bile - had healing properties.

One of the most common practices was the use of dog meat during pregnancy and childbirth. It was believed that dog offal facilitates the birth of a child, increases the amount of milk and helps the mother recover faster.

As for the seasonality of dog meat, Koreans believe that posinthan helps to endure the heat. It is boiled and served during the three hottest days of the summer in mid-July.

Criticism from foreigners

Traditionally, Koreans have had no ethical doubt that eating dog meat is perfectly acceptable. In their view, dogs are no different from other animals, and talk about the humanity of eating them was perceived as hypocrisy and double standards. In addition, in the gastronomic traditions of the country there are also more strange and exotic recipes - for example, eating a whole live octopus, which does not want to be eaten, therefore it clings to the neck and face of a person who is trying to swallow it with tentacles. The sight is not for the faint of heart.

However, South Korea faced sharp criticism from Western society, which began to establish contacts with the country in the second half of the 20th century.

One of the most scandalous cases of discussion was the statement of Brigitte Bardot that a nation that has dogs is a nation of savages. Naturally, such an insult caused a wave of negativity in the country against the actress. Dozens of articles appeared in the Korean press stating that the nation has the right to preserve cultural traditions and is not obliged to indulge the whims of foreigners.

However, they were still forced to make concessions in Korea. During the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, all restaurants specializing in serving dog meat were closed, and the dish was ordered to be temporarily removed from the restaurant menu. However, the trade in dog meat continued "under the counter", and often wealthy officials became clients of such establishments, who approved temporary restrictions. At the same time, under the influence of Western public organizations in South Korea, the largest dog market was closed, where animals were kept in cruel and unsanitary conditions, and killed in inhumane ways.

Current situation

In South Korea, since the end of the 20th century, after an economic breakthrough and the beginning of close cooperation with the West, the attitude towards dogs as pets has changed somewhat. They began to appear in children's literature and cartoons, and in big cities it became fashionable to have small lap dogs. However, full-fledged sympathy for these animals is still far away. The gastronomic culture of eating dog meat has not declined either, and Koreans have even become less embarrassed about the fact that Western society condemns them.

In North Korea, due to minimal contacts with the outside world, the situation is specific. Most residents are not even aware that in other countries their tradition of eating dogs is considered immoral or wrong.

But even if they knew about it, the situation would hardly change: the government supports the position that the Korean nation should solve its own problems and is not obliged to report to anyone.

Therefore, they definitely would not change their traditions to the requirements of a hostile West.