In North Korea, consumption of dog meat soars during hottest months
On both sides of the Demilitarised Zone, dogs used for their meat are raised on farms for that express purpose
In North Korea, summer is not a good time to be a dog. With the sizzling heat upon the country, North Korea’s biggest brewery is pumping out twice as much beer as usual, Pyongyang residents are queuing up to get their bingsu – a syrupy treat made with shaved ice – and restaurants are serving up bowl after bowl of the season’s biggest culinary attraction: spicy dog meat soup.
Euphemistically known as dangogi, or sweet meat, dog has long been believed to be a stamina food in North and South Korea and is traditionally eaten during the hottest time of the year, giving a sad twist to old saying “dog days of summer.”
The dates are fixed according to the lunar calendar and dog meat consumption centres around the sambok, or three hottest days – July 17 and 27, and August 16 this year. Demand appears to be especially high this year because of a heatwave that has hit many parts of East Asia. Temperatures in the North have been among the highest ever recorded, hovering near 40 degrees in several cities.
As is the case with almost anything else, good statistics for how much dog is eaten in the North are not available.
But in South Korea, where even President Moon Jae-in has pet dogs, at least 2 million canines are slaughtered and eaten each year despite the fact that the popularity of dog meat as a food is waning. While many older South Koreans believe dog meat aids virility, younger citizens generally are either against the practice or indifferent to it and there has been increasing pressure to ban it altogether.
