'End of Dog Meat Consumption' Public-Private Joint Discussion Body to Launch Next Month... Nationwide Public Awareness Survey

National Agenda Inspection and Coordination Meeting

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is presiding over the Government Policy Coordination Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 25th. 2021.11.25 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] A social discussion body on the 'end of dog meat consumption' will officially launch next month. In this regard, the government plans to conduct a public awareness survey.

On the 25th, according to the related ministries including the Office for Government Policy Coordination and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, it was announced that at the 'Government Policy Issue Inspection and Coordination Meeting' chaired by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, the installation plan for the 'Committee for Discussion on the Dog Meat Issue (tentative name)' was discussed.

The committee will operate from next month until April of next year. It will be composed of about 20 members including related organizations, experts, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and government officials, and discussions will be divided into production and distribution subcommittees if necessary. The government consultative body supporting the committee will be chaired by Koo Yoon-chul, head of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, with vice ministers from six ministries including the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance participating. In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will operate a task force (TF).

Before the committee's launch, the government will begin a fact-finding survey on the dog meat industry, which has been conventionally conducted in institutional blind spots such as dog breeding, slaughtering, distribution, and sales. In addition, it announced plans to conduct a public awareness survey on dog meat consumption. Recently, as social interest in animal welfare has increased, while there is a negative view of dog meat consumption itself, voices opposing the 'legal prohibition' of such food culture coexist on the grounds of protecting basic rights.

Prime Minister Kim said, "The controversy over dog meat consumption is not a recent issue but an old problem that has continued for more than 30 years since the 1988 Seoul Olympics," adding, "Especially recently, as the number of households raising companion animals has rapidly increased and our society's interest in animal rights and animal welfare has grown, the voice that it is difficult to see dog meat consumption merely as an 'old dietary culture' is becoming stronger." He continued, "We plan to form a public-private joint discussion body led by the private sector to derive a social consensus and improve related systems that have been left in blind spots. The related ministries should actively work to ensure smooth operation of the discussion body, including fact-finding, so that diverse voices can be sufficiently reflected, and make every effort to secure fairness and transparency in the discussion process," he urged.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.