Dog meat consumption in South Korea

Dog meat consumption in South Korea
Dog meat on sale in a market
Hangul
Revised Romanization	Gaegogi
McCune–Reischauer	Kaegogi
North Korean name
Hangul
Revised Romanization	Dan(-)gogi
McCune–Reischauer	Tan'gogi

The consumption of dog meat in South Korea, where it is known as "Gaegogi" (Korean: 개고기), has a long history originating during Three Kingdoms of Korea, AD C. 57. In recent years, it has been controversial both in South Korea and around the world, due to animal rights and sanitary concerns. Dog meat is also consumed in North Korea, but the extent or form of this activity is unclear.

The consumption of dog meat can be traced back to antiquity, and dog bones were excavated in a neolithic settlement in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. A wall painting in the Goguryeo tombs complex in South Hwanghae Province, a UNESCO World Heritage site which dates from 4th century AD, depicts a slaughtered dog in a storehouse (Ahn, 2000). The Balhae people also enjoyed dog meat, and the Koreans' appetite for canine cuisine seems to have come from that era.

Koreans have distinguished Chinese terms for dog "견; 犬", which refers to pet dogs, feral dogs, and wolves from the Chinese term "구; 狗," which is used specifically to indicate dog meat.

Approximately In 1816, Jeong Hak-yu, the second son of Jeong Yak-yong, a prominent politician and scholar of Joseon dynasty at the time, wrote a poem called Nongga Wollyeongga (농가월령가). This poem, which is an important source of Korean folk history, describes what ordinary Korean farming families did in each month of a year. In the description of the month of August the poem tells of a married woman visiting her birth parents with boiled dog meat, rice cake, and rice wine, thus showing the popularity of dog meat at the time (Ahn, 2000; Seo, 2002). Dongguk Sesigi (동국세시기), a book written by a Korean scholar Hong Seok-mo in 1849, contains a recipe of Bosintang including a boiled dog, green onion, and red chili pepper powder.