Growing movement in Korea challenges tradition of bullfighting

Two bulls lock horns in a fight in Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang Province. Courtesy of Animal Liberation Wave

A campaign to end traditional bullfighting in Korea is gaining momentum, driven by growing public concern and pressure from animal rights activists, as several municipalities move to withdraw funding for such events in response to evolving societal values.

As of Tuesday, an online petition submitted to the National Assembly calling for a total ban on bullfighting had garnered more than 45,000 signatures — just 5,000 short of the threshold required for formal parliamentary review.

“Cattle used in bullfighting suffer injuries and stress from training and collisions. Some suffer broken horns or internal injuries during fights and are left abandoned after the games,” the petitioner wrote. “Bulls were not born to fight. There is no reason they should be forced to ram into each other for human entertainment.”

While the Animal Protection Act prohibits injuring animals for gambling or entertainment, bullfighting remains exempt, as the law does not apply to activities designated as “folk games.”

In recent years, however, animal rights activists have increasingly challenged the rationale for that exemption, arguing that bullfighting is no different from dog or horse fighting — blood sports involving different animals but similar in terms of cruelty.

Critics of bullfighting, including the minor progressive Green Party Korea, call it another form of animal abuse.

Owners contend that the animals are generally well cared for and that the practice represents a unique aspect of Korean heritage, deeply rooted in the country’s cultural traditions.

Yet public opinion is shifting in favor of the animal rights activists.

According to a recent survey by Hankook Research, 62.1 percent of respondents in the Gyeongsang region — home to the country’s largest bullfighting events — said they believe the practice has a negative impact on children's values.

Amid growing criticism of the practice, some local governments are pondering whether to continue promoting it.

According to Animal Liberation Wave, one of the groups leading the campaign, five out of 11 municipalities that are eligible to host bullfighting events in Korea decided not to allocate budgets for such events this year, resulting in their cancellation.

“This came after we, along with other animal rights groups and Green Party politicians, sent a petition urging them to stop funding such events,” Jang Hee-ji, the group’s campaigner, told The Korea Times on Tuesday. “We will continue to push for changes as we focus on the six remaining municipalities to stop it entirely.”

A handler guides fighting bulls into the ring by pulling their nose ropes during a bullfighting event in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province. Courtesy of Animal Liberation Wave

A joint investigation report released June 26 by animal rights groups highlighted one of the cruelest aspects of bullfighting: forcing bulls to fight and bleed against their will.

Handlers forcibly position bulls head-to-head by tugging on their nose ring ropes before each fight, a process that often causes injury, according to the report. Activists who observed 131 matches found that in 54, the bulls avoided fighting altogether. Among the 77 fights that proceeded, 48 ended with bulls bleeding.

Such findings have intensified public scrutiny of the practice.

In January, the National Heritage Administration said in response to controversy that it decided not to proceed with its planned review to designate bullfighting as a new national intangible cultural heritage item.