Moon, on returning Pungsan dogs received from North Korea... Hong Joon-pyo "Can't even take care of three dogs"

Former President Moon Jae-in caring for Pungsan dog Gomi, which he received from Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, at the Blue House residence. / Photo by Cheong Wa Dae

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu, criticized the former President Moon Jae-in's side for stating that they would return the Pungsan dogs, which were received from Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of North Korea, to the government, saying, "How did they govern the Republic of Korea for five years when they couldn't even take care of three dogs?"

On the 8th, Mayor Hong wrote on Facebook, "It seems the three Pungsan dogs gifted by Kim Jong-un are now useless. They cherished them as if they were Kim Jong-un himself," he said.

He added, "Are they returning them now because the government won't cover the maintenance costs like dog food? Instead, send them back to the North to Kim Jong-un," he said. Then he sarcastically remarked, "Does the former president have the country take care of the dogs he raises? What a wonderful country."

Earlier, former President Moon received two Pungsan dogs named 'Gomi' and 'Songgang' from the North during the third inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang in September 2018. Subsequently, seven puppies were born between Moon's Pungsan dogs 'Maru' and 'Gomi,' and six of them were adopted out. After his retirement, Moon raised the remaining puppy 'Down' along with 'Gomi' and 'Songgang' at his residence in Yangsan, Gyeongnam.

However, Moon's side announced the day before that they would return Gomi and Songgang to the Presidential Archives. The Pungsan dogs received from the North are considered presidential records by law, and Moon's side claims that revising the enforcement decree is necessary for him to keep them, but there has been no progress due to objections from the Presidential Office.

The Pyeongsan Village Secretariat explained through former President Moon's Facebook account, "Since this is an unprecedented case without explicit regulatory grounds, the Presidential Archives and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) promised to revise the enforcement decree of the Presidential Records Management Act soon to establish explicit regulatory grounds. MOIS announced the legislative notice for the decree revision on June 17, but it was not submitted to the Cabinet meeting due to objections from the Presidential Office for unknown reasons."

They continued, "Contrary to the positions of the Presidential Archives and MOIS, the Presidential Office seems negative about entrusting the management of the Pungsan dogs to former President Moon. If so, it should be handled coolly. The entrustment of presidential records management is based on mutual goodwill, so if the government side dislikes it or comes up with a better management plan, they can terminate the entrustment at any time. Although there may be feelings of attachment or regret because they are beloved pets, the termination of the entrustment relationship cannot be refused."

Regarding this, the Presidential Office stated, "The claim that the enforcement decree was not revised due to opposition from the Presidential Office is not true." The Presidential Office spokesperson said in a media release, "The enforcement decree falls under the jurisdiction of the Presidential Archives, and related ministries such as MOIS and the Ministry of Government Legislation are in consultation; the revision of the decree has not been completely abandoned. It is a natural procedure for related ministries to consult, and returning the Pungsan dogs to the Presidential Archives without waiting for the decree drafting process was entirely the decision of former President Moon's side and is unrelated to the current Presidential Office."

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