Brigitte Bardot has sent a protest letter to South Koreans over their country's dog-eating culture.

She says it is absurd to try to justify it.

About three million of South Korea's 46 million people are believed to eat dog meat as a delicacy.

Bardot's open letter to the people of South Korea was posted on her animal protection foundation's website.( http://www.fondationbrigittebardot.fr/uk/ )

"Defending and justifying this brutality in the name of culture is an absurdity," she says.

She said her Brigitte Bardot Foundation has received nearly a thousand insulting and threatening messages about its campaign.

"I dare to hope that all Koreans are not like those who recently sent those awful messages to my foundation, and I dare to hope that many of you will not ignore animal suffering," the letter said.

She did not detail contents of the messages in her letter.

Earlier this month, Bardot angered South Koreans by hanging up the phone during an interview with South Korean radio and television network MBC, while discussing the country's dog-eating culture.