July 18, 2024
SEOUL – July 15 was Chobok in South Korea, which marks the first of the three hottest days of summer between July and August.
The centuries-old practice sees South Koreans eating dog meat stew or “boshintang” on this day to nourish their bodies under the summer heat.
But there was hardly any dinner crowd at Madam Lee Kyung-ja’s boshintang restaurant in Seoul’s Dongdaemun market this year.
It is the worst Chobok in the eatery’s 40-year history, she told The Straits Times, estimating that her eatery has served about only 20 per cent of the customers they usually see.
This was in stark contrast to November 2023, when the eatery saw a surge in business amid a debate over a proposed Bill to end the country’s dog meat trade by 2027.
The Bill was passed in January, and business has since nosedived for Madam Lee, 73. She plans to switch to selling stews made with black goat meat, which is said to have a similar texture to dog meat, in two years’ time instead.
“I didn’t think I could do anything else after selling boshintang for 40 years. But I have started to go around Seoul to try out black goat stews. I am going to teach myself how to prepare the meat and cook it so that it tastes similar to dog meat stew,” she said.
Madam Lee Kyung-ja has been selling dog meat stew for the past 40 years. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
In South Korea, younger locals have embraced ginseng chicken soup as the alternative dish to beat the summer heat, but the older generation still prefers the heartier boshintang.
In 2024, though, many restaurants across the country selling dog meat stew saw a stark decline in business during Chobok, local media reported.
An owner of an eatery in Changwon city, about an hour from Busan, told the local Gyeongnam Daily newspaper that since the Bill was passed, his business has become worse than it was during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has considered putting up his business for sale.
Moran market in Seongnam city, about an hour away from central Seoul, was previously South Korea’s largest dog meat market and used to sell up to 80,000 dogs annually.
But the market’s dog meat trade was discontinued in 2018 in the run-up to South Korea’s hosting of the Winter Olympics that year, which drew attention to the country’s consumption of dog meat.
Moran market used to be the largest dog meat market in South Korea, but has since switched trade to black goat meat from 2018. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
These days, its vendors have officially switched to selling black goat meat, although some were still secretly selling dog meat stew when ST visited the market on July 15.
Mr Kim Young-buk, 65, runs a black goat butchery and stew restaurant at the market and acts as the de facto spokesman for the other vendors.
Most vendors are wary of speaking to the media now, given the market’s history and the controversy over the dog meat trade, he said.
While the vendors’ business suffered badly when they first made the switch in meats, the consumption of black goat meat is gaining ground these days, he added.
“Eating dog meat is a part of Korean culture that has existed since the Joseon dynasty (1392 to 1897), so the older people struggled to understand the ban. But now they have come around to it,” he said.
At his eatery, dog meat stews still account for about 10 per cent of sales, but Mr Kim’s employee Kim Hye-young says this could be their last year selling this dish.
The 61-year-old Madam Kim said: “It’s getting more difficult to obtain dog meat these days, with the animal welfare groups travelling around the provinces, cracking down on places that slaughter dogs. If there is no one to process the meat for us, we cannot sell it.”
She is not unhappy about this, though, as she says the more expensive black goat meat is more profitable.
Based on ST’s checks, dog meat sells at 25,000 won (S$24) per kg, while goat meat fetches about 30,000 won per kg. Dog meat stews cost around 16,000 won, but black goat meat stews are priced upwards of 20,000 won.
Official statistics show that the number of goats raised domestically has nearly doubled from 240,000 in 2010 to 430,000 in 2022. Imports of goat meat also quadrupled from 1,250 tonnes in 2019 to 5,995 tonnes in 2023.
While the black goat industry is experiencing a boom, Korean dog farmers are not willing to let go of the fight just yet. In March, they filed a petition against the ban, claiming that the legislation infringes upon people’s rights to eat dog meat and the freedom of farmers.
On July 9, the Korean Dog Farmers’ Association, which represents about 2,500 out of 3,000 dog farms in Korea, held a press conference, calling for more clarity on the compensation plans and threatening not to cooperate with the authorities on the ban.
In a statement, the group said the ban was an oppression of their rights and demanded an extension of the three-year grace period, currently until 2027, which they say is too short for them to switch to other trades.
In response, South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry maintains that it has been in close communication with dog farm owners and will announce compensation measures by September or October.
Mr Yoon Cheol-kyun, 64, switched from supplying dog meat at Moran market to black goat meat three years ago, and has no regrets.
“I know many people who relied on this trade for their livelihood are suffering, which is unfortunate. But we have to move on with the times. If the government wants to phase out dog meat, it is only right that they offer appropriate compensation to those affected.”
He proudly showed off his one-year-old pet dog, which sits in the front of his delivery truck with him when he does his deliveries.
Mr Yoon Cheol-kyun has stopped eating dog meat since he started supplying black goat meat in 2019. He now keeps a pet dog. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
“I sold dog meat previously as a job, but it didn’t mean I was eating pets. To me, dog meat was just livestock. But now, I won’t go back to eating dog meat. I’ll stick to black goat meat.”