Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
US actress to join Seoul protest against dog meat trade
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
By Jung Min-ho
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.