Last week the Associated Press reported that a group of dog meat restaurants planned to offer visitors to the World Cup free samples of dog meat, including steamed meat, soup, sandwiches and hamburgers containing the controversial South Korean delicacy.
About 3 million of South Korea’s 47 million people are estimated to eat dog meat and there are as many as 6,000 restaurants that serve dog meat in South Korea.
But a few days after the Associated Press report, Choi Han-Gwon, the leader of the dog meat restaurant association, denied the Associated Press report — though his denial is unlikely to assuage animal rights activists.
The Courier Mail quoted Han-Gwon as saying that although the restaurateurs would not offer free samples of dog meat, “We plan to develop canned dog meat tonic juice, which football fans can enjoy in their stadium seats while watching the games.”
Han-Gwon said that offering dog meat hamburgers and sandwiches would be too “sensational[ist]” and bring “excessive publicity” — along with a possible backlash from the South Korean government.
The World Cup gets under on May 31 and is co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.
Sources:
World Cup to Have Dog Meat Samples. Associated Press, April 28, 2002.
Visitors to sample dog meat delicacy. Courier Mail, April 27, 2002.