We can thank President Yoon’s wife for South Korea’s ban on dog meat

NEWS AND OPINION: This is a story about the power of women behind leading politicians who can mould policies and influence male decision-makers. Yes, it is still a male world, regrettably. And look what they are doing to it.

I recently wrote about South Korea’s intention to ban dog meat in their country. For many animal advocates this is a long-awaited step in the right direction. I really hope that China is listening.

One reason for this change in attitude to eating dog meat is that South Korea feels out of step with the rest of the world. And they are; as is China. Dogs are companions. They are not livestock. There were never intended to be livestock. There is a mutually beneficial contract between humans and dogs and it doesn’t include killing and eating them. What kind of deal is that?

I won’t go on. I want to focus on President Yoon’s wife. I should also say, though, that President Yoon, himself, is a dog lover. This begs the question, without being too critical, why he left it so long to ban dog meat. Ironically, a lot of people in the West support dog meat because they don’t see any difference between dog meat and cow meat but there’s a difference and it is the contract I mention above.

Also, in many Asian countries dogs are killed brutally for their meat. We have to bring into the equation how they are slaughtered. In China, dog meat, is a front for abject, callous cruelty.

Once again, I won’t go on. But I tend to get very angry when I write about dog and cat meat. It’s the background cruelty which really winds me up.

The Times reports that President Yoon is banning dog meat because of pressure from his wife and from the citizens of South Korea of which there are a growing number who are pet owners.

President Yoon delayed the ban which is going to be introduced by 2027 – a slow introduction to make the change acceptable to the dwindling number of farmers, slaughterhouse owners and restauranteurs who profit from the dog meat market.

Another underlying issue for me is that a lot of Asians think that eating dog or cat meat is beneficial to their health. However, there is no hard scientific evidence to support this. It seems that science doesn’t really have any impact on attitude.

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Dog meat used to be commonly eaten particularly in a soup called bosintang which, as mentioned, was believed to be beneficial to health during hot weather.  Bosintang: tan’gogiguk is a Korean soup (guk) that uses dog meat as its primary ingredient. The meat is boiled with vegetables such as green onions.

There’s been a great reduction in the number of restaurants serving this dish over recent years. And customers who want to eat it are normally elderly.

This is indicative of the change from attitudes of the elderly to attitudes of the youngsters who I suspect are driving this ban ultimately.

The South Korean government is going to compensate those businesses involved in the dog meat trade to make the change more palatable to them.

President Yoon and his wife Kim Keon-hee own six dogs and five cats. She has publicly spoken about the need for an end to the dog meat trade and consumption in South Korea. That is the power of the woman behind the throne. Thank you, Kim, for gently pushing the president towards ending what is, I believe, an attitude which is out of step with the modern world.

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