South Korea sets a compensation plan for dog meat farmers before the 2027 ban

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea announced plans Thursday to compensate famers and others in the country’s dwindling dog meat industry before a formal ban goes into effect in 2027, a move that is drawing opposition from both farmers and animal rights activists.

South Korea’s parliament passed a landmark bill in January that will ban slaughtering, breeding or selling dog meat for human consumption after a three-year grace period. It will be punishable by 2-3 years in prison.

The Agriculture Ministry said that farmers would receive compensation starting from 225,000 won ($170), and rising up to 600,000 won ($450) per dog if they agree to shut down their business early.

It’s likely that farmers won’t accept the offer, as they earlier called for 2 million won ($1,505) per dog. They’ve said the ban infringes on their right to choose their own jobs and will aggravate their economic difficulties. In a statement Tuesday, an association of dog farmers called for the law to be amended to extend the grace period and add appropriate compensation plans.

Sangkyung Lee, a campaign manager at the Korean office of the anti-animal cruelty group Humane Society International, called the South Korean announcement “an important milestone in this historic ban that will see the ban through to completion and end our country’s dog meat era for good.”

But Lee said his office is “disappointed” at the South Korean plan because it would pay farmers based on the number of dogs they have, “potentially increasing dog breeding to get more money from the scheme and more puppies being born into suffering.”

Dog meat consumption is a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula. It’s also eaten in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and some African countries. But South Korea’s dog meat industry has drawn more attention because of the country’s reputation as a cultural and economic powerhouse. It’s also the only nation with industrial-scale dog farms.

South Korea’s anti-dog meat campaign received a big boost from the country’s first lady, Kim Keon Hee, who repeatedly expressed her support for a prohibition. She was subjected to withering criticism and crude insults during demonstrations by farmers.

Surveys have found that that around one in three South Koreans opposes the ban, though most people now don’t eat dog meat and favor a ban.

Vice Agriculture Minster Park Beomsu told reporters that government studies found that about 466,000 dogs are currently being raised for…