Ex-president's double standard on companion animals vexes dog lovers
Former President Moon Jae-in feeds seven Poongsan breed puppies born between Gomi, gifted by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018, and Maru, who he has been raising since 2008, in this photo released on social media in July 2021. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae
Moon Jae-in's daughter launches crowdfund project for dog calendar, weeks after her father 'dumped' two Poongsan dogs
By Ko Dong-hwan
Former President Moon Jae-in wrote an “obituary” for his dog Maru, on social media, informing the public of his death.
“He was my dear friend,” Moon recalled, announcing his dog's death on Saturday. “He collapsed during a walk this morning, and then took his last breath. He was gone with no apparent pain or groan. His last moment was peaceful.”
Maru was Moon's dog he and his family had been raising since before he was elected president.
While sharing his dog's last moment, Moon said although he was saddened, he was relieved because he was able to be there in his dog's last moment. “During the walk, he ate a ripe persimmon that had fallen from a tree nearby… Maru has been our good friend and trusted companion who gave us comfort and happiness during the turbulent years we have been going through so far,” he wrote.
Moon's sharing of his fond memories with his companion animal, however, triggered a backlash from some dog owners because his announcement of the death of his companion animal came weeks after the former president made news headlines for giving up other dogs he had received from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a gift after their first summit in 2018.
Criticism of the former president intensified as his daughter recently launched a crowdfunding project for publishing a calendar featuring her father and a menagerie of his other pets to promote stray dogs, tripping over her father's “double standard” for companion animals.
“A hypocrite,” one internet user wrote in response to a news article about Moon's social media post. Another wrote, “What on earth does this mean? He doesn't walk the talk.”
Moon, who settled in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, following his departure from Cheong Wa Dae, sent two Poongsan dogs from Pyongyang to the Presidential Archives last month. Some observers had said the dogs, which belonged to the presidential collection and were taken by Moon to his new home in the country's southeastern rural region, shouldn't be kept by the former president under the authority's regulations.
It was reported that raising the dogs had been economically burdensome for Moon, as he had financed it out of his own wallet ― paying 2.5 million won ($1,900) per month including food and other maintenance costs. Before his departure from Cheong Wa Dae, a new ordinance regarding management of articles at the Presidential Archives was in queue for review at the National Assembly that the new administration would financially support the outgoing president raising the dogs. The bill is still pending.
Moon's daughter Da-hye launched the crowdfunding project last Thursday, aiming to raise 2 million won to support shelters for stray dogs. The campaign netted over 57 million won as of Sunday afternoon, well ahead of the deadline on Dec. 18. PPP spokesperson Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok released a statement on Saturday saying the calendar isn't congruous with the image of Moon who “gave up” the two Poongsan dogs. Gwangju Metropolitan City said on Saturday it had accepted a request from the Presidential Archives to raise the two dogs and keep them at Uchi Park, a local zoo. The zoo was already keeping one of the pair's six puppies. Other zoos in Seoul, Incheon and Daejeon, where the rest of the puppies are living, had declined the Presidential Archives' request, according to reports.
Former President Moon Jae-in plays with one of the two Poongsan dogs given by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a historic summit at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom, in this photo from October 2018. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae
“I can't imagine how Gomi and Songgang (the Poongsan dogs) would feel after they look at that calendar,” Jang said in the statement. “He said in that calendar he values every living thing. I want to ask him if he actually does. People are wondering why Gomi and Songgang aren't among the living things he cherishes as he is portrayed in the calendar.”
PPP Rep. Park Soo-young, who represents an electoral district in Busan, on Saturday called Moon a “hypocrite who threw out the Poongsan dogs and sold stray dog calendars.”
PPP Rep. Kweon Seong-dong also said selling the calendar “isn't what a person who gave up on the Poongsan dogs is supposed to do.”
Moon, however, had said on Facebook that he sent the dogs to the Presidential Archives because they belonged to the state collection and he wished to take them back as his pets, rather than treating them as government property, if he could. He added he privately cared for them “dearly” for six months even after his presidency ended, for which he deserves gratitude.
Moon's daughter posted on the crowdfunding platform Tumblbug that she had planned the project because her father's love of stray dogs and pets was being “misunderstood.”