I haven't had a blurb on the topic of Koreans and dog-eating on my website for several years now. I didn't think it necessary anymore with all the information on the web. It was only after a breed education event in 2005 that I resigningly decided to write something on this controversy again. I was just involved with manning a Korean Jindo booth at the America's Family Pet Expo in Orange county, California. There were a few rude people who were just interested in demeaning the breed, but there were also a few people who sincerely want to know what the situation is in Korea with regards to dog-eating and Jindos. It is for the benefit of the latter group that I will share my perspective about this sensitive issue.
The Ethics
There are two major objections revolving around the dog-eating controversy:
1) dogs are killed inhumanely
2) dogs are being eaten.This article "Wok the Dog" covers the complexity of the Korea dog-eating controversy very well and I recommend reading it for background info. It's a bit dated, but the gist of the article still applies.
Then I recommend the KAPS site for reading on the opposing point of view.
As of this moment, I believe the Korean legislature is moving to eliminate the first objection to dog-eating - the inhumane killing of dogs.
Who are the dog-eaters?
The Animal Rights movement have primarily targeted Korea as a dogmeat eating country, but Korea is not the only country that has citizens that eat dog meat. China has citizens that eat dog (think Chow dog). The countries in southeast Asia and the Pacific islands are cited as eating dogs, and to my surprise, there are some tribes in Africa that eat dog as well. The National Geographic show "Taboo" had an episode where a tribe in Africa raised a village dog, only to offer its pain and death to their spirits and then eat the dog's meat. Even in the US, there are occassionally Americans who brag about eating dog. A few years back, there was one notorious person, that went by "Brother ---" online, who supported dog-eating as an expression of his religion.
Within Korea, only a small percent of Koreans eat dogmeat. One website estimates 10% of the Korean population eats dog. I wouldn't have the resources to know whether this number is inflated or not. I do have an idea of how certain groups in Korea perceive dogmeat though
Who are eating dog in Korea?
An analysis by age group
Among the older generation of Koreans that survived the wars and had to live through near famine, dogmeat was sometimes eaten when there was no readily available source of meat. Beef was very expensive and if it was ever used it dishes, it was used as a seasoning and never as a main course. For these old-timers, there are certain foods that have become anathema or low-class foods to them and so they balk at the thought of eating them in this day and age. Dogmeat was one of those dishes. Even though some of these old-timers vaguely remember the use of dog in "herbal" medicine (a memory that was refreshed recently by the dogmeat controversy), dogmeat dishes does not have the credibility of the alternative chicken ginseng dish, Samgaetang.
Among many older Koreans (especially the ladies), the common dog was considered a very dirty animal. A "ttonggae." There are some English sites that translated the slang for these dogs as trash dogs, but actually, the literal translation is poop dogs. In this age of disposable diapers, the origin of the name has become somewhat lost, but in old days, these dogs were literally doing doo-doo duty. Thirty years ago, it was common for babies to be potty-trained at a very young age. Most were potty-trained before 2 years of age. The reason this was so was because toddlers didn't wear cloth diapers all the time. Cloth diapers required washing and boiling at a very high temperature, which was an unpleasant and tedious task with an older baby. Instead, baby clothes were designed to allow toddlers to squat and poop without soiling their clothes. The result was a pile which the neighborhood dog ate, just like pigs would in some other parts of the world. For this reason, there are Koreans who are repulsed by the thought of letting a dog inside of their home, being licked by a dog, or eating a dog.
The age group that are most conflicted about the issue of dogmeat is probably the young adult/college age group. On one hand, many of them don't have any particular desire to eat a dog and giggle off the supposed benefits of eating dog, but they deeply resent any Western interference or pressure against anything that is Korean or quasi-Korean. Remember the protests against the US, blaming them for the North Korea-South Korea divide? Remember how close the last Korean presidential election was? Resentment isn't always rational. This age group is usually the one that acts out against perceived repression and will eat dog just to defy Westerners.
The first two older age groups that I mentioned would be the ones that would be sensitive to "shaming" tactics, such those employed before the Seoul Olympics in 1988, but I believe "shaming" tactics would only backfire on the last group. To a certain extent, I believe we've already seen some of this backfiring with the World Cup in 2002. I believe the best tactic to use on the last group is to use other similarly-aged Koreans to persuade them to not eat dog. It should be Koreans who empathize with these people, but can reason with them to think rationally instead of reacting reflexively.
Other groups
I would be remiss if I did not include three groups of people who do eat dog in Korea: the thrill-seekers, the pragmatics, and the connoisseurs. I doubt anything anybody does will affect these people's actions.
The thrill-seekers are the ones that eat dog to gross out their friends or do so on a dare. Guilty of this are some Koreans, American servicemen, and visiting Korean-Americans from a variety of backgrounds. Making dog-eating illegal would only heighten the risk and allure to these people.
The pragmatics are the ones that eat dog because the dog was already dead. The dog was killed, for whatever reason, and they eat the meat to avoid waste. These dogs were kept by the owner and were never processed outside of the owner's land.
Through stories, I have heard that there is actually a small minority of Koreans who enjoy the taste of dog meat and have become connoisseurs of it. They eat enough of it to tell whether the meat they're being served was from an old dog or a young dog, a yellow dog or a black dog, a male or a female, etc. I don't know what to say to that except that there are other groups of people that are going to be more receptive to changing their ways. I suggest people pick their battles and concentrate their efforts on swaying the majority who can be convinced.
What dogs are being eaten?
There is one misconception that Jindo dogs are regularly eaten. This misconception was further reinforced by a paragraph in The Encyclopedia of the Dog written by Dr. Fogle, stating that the Jindo's ancestors were eaten by Koreans. Dr. Fogle's Jindo information is heavily criticized by experts in Korea and even I can recognize errors in his book.
The Jindo dog is Korea Natural Treasure #53 and the Jindo dog is well-known throughout Korea. Children are often taught about the Jindo dog through school textbooks that mention them. People can be very passionate about their "jindogaes" and will fiercely point out that no, Koreans do not eat Jindo dogs.
The dog that is commonly raised for meat consumption is a yellow-colored dog. Sometimes these dogs' appearances can be mistaken for a Jindo or a Jindo mix, but they do not garner automatic respect like "pure" Jindo dogs do. I have heard of an instance when a pedigreed Jindo dog was mistakenly killed and the dog's owner sued the perpetrators for $40,000. This story was plastered on the Korean TV news, on Korean radio stations, and in Korean newspapers for several days in the U.S. and Korea. In contrast, no one makes any news about a common yellow dog that is killed and eaten.
Occasionally, there are other dogs from other breeds which are eaten, but they are not preferred due to different tastes. These dogs are sensationalized as stolen from their owners, but in actuality, many are sold by their owners to the dog farms or meat markets. (Yes, there are disposable pet owners in Korea, just like there are disposable pet owners in the U.S.) Unlike the US where there are county, city, and private shelters to take in unwanted dogs and euthanized them, there are no municipal shelters in Korea.
Dealing with Dog-eating
A non-Korean once asked me, when preparing for a trip to Korea, what is the best way to deal with Koreans who eat dog?
My advice to her was to avoid using 2nd-person pronouns. Avoid saying, "You people are barbaric!" "You're a cruel people!" "You're disgusting!" Too many "you's" and she can come off as being judgmental of the person and culture.
The majority of Koreans are actually very sensitive and very hospitable towards non-Koreans. If they are aware of a person's distress about dog-eating, they will not flaunt it in their face or be crude about it. A person can say, "It distresses me," "This makes me sad," "I love my dogs and these dogs remind me of them," etc. Most Koreans who have been around non-Koreans are sensible about dishes like the "fragrant" kimchi and avoid eating it before meeting non-Koreans. These Koreans will certainly be even more considerate about the issue of dog-eating.
If a person does happen to encounter the inconsiderate Korean, please be assured that he or she is an embarassment to other Koreans.
Dog-eating might be one of those relativistic ethical issues that varies from culture to culture and person to person, but rudeness is universally disapproved of.