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| Dog meat soup is seen with other dishes in this photo taken at a restaurant in Pyongyang in 2018. Dog meat remains a popular stamina food in summer in North Korea while it is shunned by an increasing number of people in the South. / Yonhap |
By Yi Whan-woo
An Chan-il, a North Korean defector-turned researcher in Seoul, says growing public sentiment against eating dog meat has been a culture shock for him while living here.
This is because North Koreans still see dog meat as a traditional food which is known to be good for "stamina" ― especially during summer ― according to An, who fled to the South in 1979.
"We even have a tradition of sharing dog meat among neighbors," he told The Korea Times. "There has been no problem with regarding dog as a common dietary staple, and I found it really odd that people here have increasingly argued and protested eating dog meat in recent years."
Another defector, who goes by the alias Lee Kun-shin, blames poverty for the consistent demand for dog meat in the North.
"Dog, chicken and gray mullet are among a handful of sources of healthy food to beat the heat in summer in the North," he said. "North Koreans do not have much to eat."
Every mid-summer, North Korea has organized culinary competitions in Pyongyang in which contestants make stews, broiled dishes and other recipes using dog meat.
The state-controlled media outlets have been mobilized to promote the health benefits of dog meat.
For instance the Tongil Voice, a radio broadcaster, once assessed dog stew as the "finest medicine," while DPRK Today, a propaganda outlet on YouTube, argued that dog meat has more vitamins than chicken, pork, beef and duck and is also good for the intestines and stomach.
"Such campaigns contribute to dog meat selling out fast and suppliers often have difficulty in keeping up with demand," Lee said.
The defectors say the slaughtering method is another difference between the two Koreas regarding dog meat.
"It is my understanding that butchers here in general stun dogs using a captive bolt pistol before slaughtering them," An said. "But in the North, the butchers still stick to a conventional method that stirred up protests from animal activists in the South."
An described the method of striking a dog repeatedly on the head with a club until it's dead, hanging the carcass, cutting its ankle to let the blood run out, removing the fur, scorching the flesh and so on.
This practice of slaughter, according to Lee, is not commonly witnessed in Pyongyang, because it takes place at rural, remote dog farms, such as the ones bordering China.
The number of pet owners in South Korea has surpassed 1.5 million.
In North Korea, it is "extravagant" to raise dogs as pets rather than as a source of food.
"I think more South Koreans are against eating dog meat because they live with dogs and are attached to them," Lee said. "I have heard wealthy households in Pyongyang have dogs as companion animals, but that is extremely rare to see outside Pyongyang."
