Hundköttsbönder i protest mot Sydkoreas presidentfru

The practice of dog meat in Korea originated predominantly from the Khitan refugees who spilled into Korea during the Goryeo (Koryo) Dynasty. These people were assimilated into the Joseon Dynasty as the Baekjeong class, the first class of butchers, considered the lowest class in Joseon society. The people who traditionally consume dog meat have been predominantly descendants of this class and tend to be elderly, poor, and rural. For the past few decades, consuming dog meat has been controversial, especially within South Korea, due to conflicts between Korean animal rights activists calling for a ban of dog meat versus those who view the attacks as hypocritical for attacking only one type of meat consumption, rather than all meat consumption. Consumption of dog meat has experienced a precipitous decline over the past three decades in South Korea, mainly due to the demographic decline of the minority that consumes dog meat. Estimates of the number of animals consumed vary widely. The often quoted estimates of 1-2 million (by the Korean animal rights group KARA) are not based on actual data and have no scientific basis. Estimates are closer to tens of thousands per year based on actual sales at the major markets in 2017. However, the numbers have declined since then, given that all of the major markets have since shut down. The largest dog meat market, Moran Market, officially shut down in 2018 following years of declining sales; though, some illegal sales were discovered in 2021. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, approximately 200 dog farms have been reported. In 2018, the Taepyeong-dong complex, which served as a slaughterhouse for dogs, was closed by the South Korean government. This move came five years after a vote by the city council of Seongnam, the city where the slaughterhouse was located. In a 2020 survey, 84% of the Korean population reported never having consumed dog meat nor having plans to ever do so.In June 2018, a South Korean municipal court ruled that killing dogs for their meat was illegal, though this law did not make it illegal to consume dog meat.