1 of 2 Photo: Portal via BBC Photo: Portal via BBC
The law, expected to take effect by 2027, aims to end the centuriesold practice of human consumption of dog meat.
Dog meat stew, called “boshintang,” is considered a delicacy by some older South Koreans, but the meat has lost popularity among consumers and is no longer enjoyed by young people.
Under the new law, it will not be the consumption of dog meat itself that will be illegal, only its slaughter and sale.
According to a Gallup poll last year Only 8% of people said they had tried beefChorro in the last 12 months, a decrease from 27% in 2015. Less than a fifth of respondents said they supported eating this meat.
Lee Chaeyeon, a 22yearold student, said the ban was necessary to promote animal rights.
“More and more people have pets these days,” she told the BBC in Seoul. “Dogs are like part of the family now and it’s not right to eat our own family.”
The new law focuses on the dog meat trade. Anyone convicted of slaughter faces a prison sentence of up to three years, while those found guilty of raising dogs for meat or selling dog meat can be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison.
Farmers and restaurant owners have three years to find alternative sources of employment and income before the law takes effect.
According to government statistics, there were about 1,600 dog meat restaurants and 1,150 dog farms in South Korea in 2023, all of which must now submit a plan to close their operations to local authorities.
The government has pledged to provide comprehensive support to farmers, butchers and dog meat restaurant owners whose businesses are forced to close, although details of the compensation offered have not yet been finalized.
2 of 2 Current President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife own six dogs and have called for a ban on dog meat. Photo: GETTY IMAGES via BBC Current President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife own six dogs and have called for a ban on dog meat. — Photo: GETTY IMAGES via BBC
On Tuesday, during lunch in Seoul, in a small alley lined with several dog meat restaurants, a handful of elderly people enjoyed the stew, and the generation gap was evident.
Kim Seonho, 86, was disappointed by the ban.
“We’ve been eating it since the Middle Ages. Why should we stop ourselves from eating our traditional food,” he said. “If you ban dog meat, you should also ban beef.”
Previous governments have promised to ban dog meat since the 1980s but have failed to make progress.
Current President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee are wellknown animal lovers they have six dogs, and Ms Kim has called for an end to dog eating.
Animal rights groups that have long supported the ban praised the outcome of Tuesday's vote.
Jung Ah Chae, executive director of the Humane Society of Korea, said she was surprised to see the ban in her lifetime.
“Although my heart breaks for all the millions of dogs for whom this change came too late, I am overjoyed that South Korea can now close this miserable chapter in our history and move toward a dogfriendly future,” he said.
Meat dog breeders opposed the ban. They argued that given its declining popularity among young people, the practice should be allowed until it naturally disappears over time.
Many farmers and restaurant owners are elderly and said it would be difficult for them to change their livelihoods so late in life.
One dog breeder, Joo Yeongbong, told the BBC that the industry was desperate.
“Within ten years the industry would have disappeared. We are in our 60s and 70s and now we have no choice but to lose our livelihood,” he said, adding that this was “a violation of people's freedom to eat what they like.”
Ms Kim, a dog meat restaurant owner in her 60s, told the BBC she was frustrated by the ban and blamed it on the increasing number of people in South Korea who have pets.
“Today's young people don't get married, so they consider pets as family, but food is food. We should accept dog meat but raise and slaughter it in a hygienic environment,” she said. “Other countries like China and Vietnam eat dogs, so why do we ban it?”
South Korea passes a law banning the consumption of dog meat