A total of 12 civic groups and 166 prominent figures have signed a declaration urging foreigners not to interfere in Korea's dog-eating culture, an opposition lawmaker who leads the campaign said yesterday.

Rep. Kim Hong-shin of the Grand National Party (GNP) said the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, one of the nation's two umbrella labor organizations, is among the 12 civic groups that signed the declaration.

The individual signatories include four members of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party - Noh Mu-hyun, a senior party adviser, and Reps. Kim Hee-sun, Sim Jae-kwon and Kim Seong-ho - and three GNP lawmakers - Reps. Kim Won-wung, Suh Sang-suhp and Choung Byoung-gug.

Other prominent figures who signed the declaration include poet Kim Young-il and actor Moon Sung-keun.

"Eating dog meat is our unique culinary custom and should not be subject to the interference of foreign countries," the declaration said.

"We strongly oppose foreigners' denunciatory remarks, which result from their lack of understanding of our history and are an insult to us," it said. The declaration also vowed to take joint action against foreigners' interference.

The signatories, however, said they too felt remorse over Korea's brutal slaughtering of dogs for consumption, and displaying and selling dog meat in a repugnant way.

"We'll make efforts to establish systematic and legal measures against these practices," they said.

( "...they too felt remorse over Korea's brutal slaughtering of dogs for consumption." Brutal slaughtering? An admission that the treatment of dogs in Korea is brutal?

"The declaration also vowed to take joint action against foreigners' interference." Our "interference" has been restricted to the expression of our opinions, a right we take for granted in the West. This right does not exist in countries with a more 'robust' form of government, a fact that we should constantly be aware of. It should be remembered that in the now-defunct Soviet Union, 'trade unions' invariably sided with governmental policy on every issue. Were the consumption of dog-meat as marginal as the Korean Govt. claims, what would be the reasons for an independent Trade Union Movement to become involved in this issue?

Thanks for the "warning" President Kim Dae-Jung, but we will continue to speak aloud until you enforce your own country's laws and end this barbarism.

There has been no definition of this "joint action" and "campaign" against our freedom of speech.

On a totally unrelated note, perhaps the year's end would be a good time for us all to review and update our anti-virus and internet security systems.........ITD)