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| Animal rights groups said Hollywood actress Kim Basinger will join a demonstration planned for Friday near the National Assembly in Seoul. Korea Times file |
By Jung Min-ho
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| Kim Basinger / Reuters |
American actress Kim Basinger will join a protest in Seoul against the dog meat trade this week.
According to the Animal Liberation Wave, the animal rights group organizing the rally, the Hollywood star will take part in the demonstration planned for Friday, this year's Chobok, a day some Koreans eat hot bowls of stamina-boosting soups, near the National Assembly in Yeouido.
The group said participants will demand lawmakers pass a bill that would ban the killing of dogs and cats, except in cases of urgency such as control of communicable diseases.
The bill, which was proposed by Rep. Pyo Chang-won of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea last June, has been sitting in Congress for more than a year.
"How many more (animals) have to die before the National Assembly ends the brutality? We strongly condemn its inaction," the group said in a statement.
According to a survey by local pollster Realmeter last year, 44.2 percent of Koreans said they would support prohibiting the killing of dogs for consumption, while 43.7 percent said they were against it.
In recent years, Seoulites have appeared to lose their appetite for dog meat soup, or "bosintang." According to the Seoul city government, the number of restaurants serving the dish dropped to 329 in 2014 from 528 in 2005.
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I don't eat dog meat and have no intention to do so, but I don't understand the moral difference in consuming dog meat as opposed to cow meat or pig. Why is it worse to eat a dog than a cow? They are both living breathing creatures and I don't think one is better than the other. Instead of banning it then why not just make laws that protect the dogs against unnecessary cruelty the same way there's law with livestock such as chicken, cow and pigs. Seems like they are trying to impose their cultural views on dogs upon koreans.
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