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| Dogs kept in cages at a dog farm in Gyeonggi Province. Korea Times file |
By Jun Ji-hye
A proposed program for high school students of Ganghwa County, Incheon, that would send them to the U.S. borough of Palisades Park, New Jersey, for foreign language and culture education, has failed to get off the ground due to negative public opinion there regarding Korea's tradition of eating dog meat, which was raised by animal rights activists in the U.S., according to county officials, Friday.
The county planned to send 12 high school students to the U.S. borough with which it has maintained friendly relations since 2020 to engage in the program.
The program aimed to give Korean students opportunities to learn English and experience a different culture for three weeks. It was originally scheduled to take place in December.
However, last June, Palisades Park abruptly informed Ganghwa County of their intention to suspend cooperation regarding the program, stating that the decision was unavoidable as it faced negative public opinion due to Korea's dog farms, where dogs are raised for meat, in Ganghwa County.
U.S. animal rights activists who learned about Korea's dog meat farms via social media reportedly asked the U.S. borough's authorities to cease its exchanges with the Korean county.
An official from Ganghwa County expressed regret over the failed program, saying that it was a result of cultural differences.
"The tour program was changed to take place in Thailand, and efforts to do further exchanges with Palisades Park will continue," the official said.
While in modern Korea societal attitudes towards animals are shifting, with a high proportion of the population keeping dogs as domestic pets, the country's infamous dog farms and dog meat restaurants are still operating.
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