The Poongsan Dog

   

What is a Poongsan dog?

The Poongsan dog is a northern spitz-type dog from an area now controlled by the North Korean government.    The breed is typically a creamy white and with a thick double coat, curved upright tail, and upright ears.   They are slightly larger than the South Korean Jindo dog.

There are many stories about the origins of the Poongsan dog.  One of the stories is that the Poongsan originates from the combination of wolf and dog.  A more modern theory, based on similar hunting ability, is that the Poongsan dog share some common origins with the Laika dogs of Siberia.  The most prevalent belief seems to be that the Poongsan dog was tamed by the Koreans during the New-Stone Era and left isolated high in the Baiku Mountain  (elevation 6,000 ft) area, creating the present known breed.

Even though the Poongsan dog is an ancient Korean breed,  there was little in-depth knowledge of this breed during this past century due to wars and politics.

Under the Japanese occupation, the Poongsan Dog was slaughtered to make fur coats for the Japanese army and their numbers were decimnated until they were designated Korean National Treasure no. 128 in 1942.   After World War II, the Poongsan dog population was again decimated by the Korean War.  After the Korean War in 1965, the North Korean government made efforts to preserve this breed through designated breeding farms and military bases and vigilently kept the breed within  its borders for many decades.   As communication between North and South Korea was very difficult,  information about the breed was very scarce and difficult to obtain.

This lack of information became especially apparent in the 1990's when people started to claim to have successfully imported groups of Poongsans from North Korea into South Korea.   A huge demand developed for a North Korean Poongsan from wistful South Koreans and unfortunately, there came the belated realization that these groups of exports DID NOT LOOK LIKE EACH OTHER. These were very obvious differences in structure and bone- most notably the head of the dogs. Either there are multiple dog types in Poongsan, N.Korea and all are referred to as Poongsans, some exporters were being deceived with fakes or mixes, or there were unscruplous people creating fakes in South Korea.   Because of this, there were heated debates on whose Poongsan was a real, purebred Poongsans for many years.

A breakthrough in the Poongsan situation came in June 2000 during the North Korea-South Korea summit.  It was at this summit that two unquestionably pure Poongsans were offered as a gift from the North Korean President to the South Korean President. As one can imagine, there's intense interest in these two pups.  Not only do they represent the best of the Poongsans, but they also bring hope that the two Koreas will eventually be reconciled and reunited.    Further information on these two Poongsans are given on my "reunification" dogs  page.
 
 

My Dad's report on the Poongsan Gae  (pre-dates N.K.-S.K. summit) :

Sometimes I hear people joke about getting purebred adult Poongsans through the Demilitarization Zone via the bribing of North Korean soldiers.  Frankly, I find that rather naive because of the following story:

Although my dad has not visited North Korea, he did visit the area in China bordering North Korea. There is a large population of Korean-Chinese in that area and he did glean some info about the situation with Poongsans in North Korea. According to the residents, only the North Korean military possesses purebred, quality Poongsans. The civilian-owned dogs in North Korea and the dogs in China are all mixed -probably with the edible dogs in nearby areas- and lack the keen intelligence of the military's Poongsans.  In the military, only soldiers above the equilivant rank of major are allowed to possess these dogs and the soldier's life is forfeit if the dog is lost to causes other than natural death.

All military litters are registered by the North Korean government and dogs are tightly controlled. They are well taken care of even during the famine. There is no way to export adult military dogs. There is a covert way to obtain a pup by immediately hiding a pup after birth and lying about the number of pups born in a litter, but it is very dangerous to lie to the government.

By word of mouth, it's known that two pups obtained that way grew up on a N. Korean farm. One day the owner took the matured pups on a walk around his farm. The dogs from then on would guard and chase out anything that entered the perimeter, but would leave anything outside alone. The dogs had a phenomenal nose and could airtrack an article of clothing from the farm to anywhere. Often the owner would invite guests to take a piece of clothing from his home and take it outside the boundaries of his farm for the dogs to track. Every time, the dogs were able to find the cloth even through snow and weather.

Unfortunately, during the cold, harsh winters, the dogs would like to sit next to the old stove with their noses pointed at the stove- to warm their noses. One day the owner returned to find his dogs next to the stove dead- maybe from carbon monoxide poisoning, maybe from something else.

What now ?

So what can a person do if he/she wants a purebred Poongsan dog?

If at all feasible, I would suggest holding off ownership of a Poongsan dog until there is more info forthcoming from North Korea.

Know the lineage of your Poongsans. With the recent exportation of Poongsans from North Korea (1990's) and the limited number of them, there should be no reason why your dog's lineage cannot be traced to the original exports. Also, you should know the name of the person who exported them and the details of the export.

Avoid mixing the obviously different "Poongsan" dogs together. Breed to like type or buy from parents that are alike but not closely related.

Keep track of the current debates in South Korea about the Poongsans.

I've been informed that among hunting circles, people have been mixing Poongsans (I don't know from which source) with pitbulls/bulldogs to increase their boar hunting ability. Be aware of this and buy ONLY from a reputable breeder who knows his/her stuff. Insist on knowing everything about the dog you're about to spend the next 10+ years with. If at all possible, confirm the dog's pedigree. If you're going to spend hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars on the dog, spend the few days to investigate your purchase.
 

American Pungsan ?

In the US, there has been an increasing number of people proclaiming that they own breeding Poongsans. It is very doubtful that all of these claims are valid. It is more likely that there are people willing to take advantage of the lack of Poongsan information to make money - passing off knowingly or unknowingly mixed or even non-Poongsans as purebred Poongsans. Because of this, there is a growing movement in the eastern US to recognize only the descendants of the first Korean export group (KNDA's Poongsans) and rename them the American Pungsan in the United States.

Further information about the American Pungsan will be available on my "American Pungsan " page.
 

Some Pictures under public domain :

  This photo was from a North Korean advertisement.  Regarded as a picture of a purebred Poongsan.
 

A North Korean stamp of a Poongsan dog.

 
 
 

Poongsan Links and Farms:

Korea Pungsan Dog Society
http://www.pungsange.co.kr
 
 
 

Here are a few of the active breeding farms in South Korea that I've found on the internet.   I have no idea which ones are considered reputable and which are no better than puppy mills.  Please do your own research when purchasing a Poongsan puppy.
 
 

Name	Import Date	Background
Manman Poongsan Farm www.koreadog.com	November 1993	Owner: Mr. Kim. Mr. Kim imported 30 Poongsan puppies from North Korea through China and then finally brought them by boat into South Korea.  Unfortunately, only 13 of the puppies survived.  Nine of the pups were purchased by the Korean National Dog Association (KNDA), two were eventually sent to Everland, a theme park + zoo in the Yong-In area, and two were kept by Mr. Kim.  Mr. Kim has since established a Poongsan-specific registry and raises dogs at his Manman Poongsan farm.   His website is offered in Korean, English and Japanese.
Poongsan Nong Jang http://www.pungsanfarm.com	1995?	Owner: Hyung Cheol Huh.
Oseong Nong Jang http://www.pungsandog.pe.kr		Owner: Seong Il Oh
SurSemTho JongNongJang http://www.poongsandog.co.kr	1993	Breeds Poongsans and Sapsarees. According to an old version of their site (and a rough translation by my dad), their two foundation Poongsans were brought over from North Korea via Japan.
Poongsan Dog Research Center http://plaza1.snu.ac.kr/~jksonghi		Jae Kyung Song's Home Page. This site probably has the most Poongsan pictures on the internet. You can see the wide differences that troubles so many dog enthusiasts in Korea. The site uses many servers so you might have to dig to find active pictures
Poongsan House http://www.ilovepoongsan.com
BaekDo Poongsan Nong Jang http://www.gopoongsandog.com/main.htm
Kachimal House Poongsan Nong Jang http://www.kachimal.com
http://www.nicejindo.com		Sells both Jindos and Poongsans.
Poongsan Kyun Kyung Ki Do Jong Kyun  Jang  http://www.pungsange.co.kr