Chinese Ambassador Backs Korea Over Dog Meat Issue

Chinese Ambassador to Korea Li Bin yesterday expressed support for Korea's culinary tradition of eating dog meat.

``Every nation has its own particular food culture. It is inappropriate to coerce other nations to follow one's barometer,'' Li said in a meeting with a group of senior journalists at the Press Center in downtown Seoul.

Stressing the need to acknowledge the cultural variety of each nation, he admitted that the Chinese also eat dog meat.

He made the remarks while answering a question on the possibility that China may face similar criticism regarding the dog meat issue ahead of its hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games.

With only six months remaining before the World Cup soccer finals, the Korean government has been deluged with foreign criticism for Koreans' consumption of dog meat.

With regard to North Korean defectors in China, Li renewed China's earlier position that the matter should be addressed through close consultations between the two Koreas and China. He flatly denied the possibility that the issue of North Korean defectors may be dealt with in international organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

``China has its own barometer and right to determine the issue of refugees. It needs to be tackled from a long-term perspective for the best interests of the related parties,'' he said. He added that any intervention by international organizations would further complicate the problem.

Li cautiously warned against the move by the Korean government to revise the law on ethnic Koreans abroad under a recent Constitutional Court ruling, which called for granting equal status to ethnic Koreans in China and Russia. ``China considers ethnic Koreans as Chinese people. Any hasty amendment of the law will result in diplomatic friction between China and Korea,'' he said.

( It should come as no surprise that China has come out in support of the animal abusers - their own record is hardly without blemish. Details of animal atrocities commited in China can be found at
http://www.aapn.org/index.htm
http://www.wspa.org.uk/takeaction/index.html
http://www.peta.org/
amongst others. - ITD)

[Letters to the Editor] Cruel treatment of dogs

With regards to the Dec. 4 letter written by Jeff Turley, "FIFA should stick to soccer," I must make a few comments. I agree with Turley, for the most part, that FIFA should keep its nose out of the business of others, particularly the eating of dog meat by some Koreans. I also agree that one animal is much the same as any other, unless the animal is endangered. I, too, have no qualms about people eating dog over any other meat available.

On the other hand, there is one thing that does concern me: Turley implied that the same people who cry on behalf of the dog are not doing so from a high moral ground, but because they regard dogs as pets. This leads me to believe that Turley doesn't know how these dogs are killed. These dogs are beaten, burned, electrocuted and boiled, most of this while still conscious.

One might like to deny these claims, but ask any Korean and he will tell you this is true. It is very likely that most Westerners would be appalled by this practice, as it appears to be very cruel. This I agree with, which is the reason, and the only reason, I don't eat dog meat. If I were aware of other animals being slaughtered in the same fashion, I wouldn't eat them either. Also, dogs are slaughtered for the superstition that its meat increases virility in men.

If you think that these same animal activists are not out crying for other animals, you are wrong. Many Western fast food chains, including McDonald's, have been hounded for animal abuses - the difference is many of them have made attempts to clean up their act due to the cries of these people. It's not the fact alone that some Koreans kill dogs for meat. It's how the dog is killed.

Tammy Johnson

Chuncheon

Gangwon Provinc

( What are YOUR opinions on this? Would cat and dog-eating be acceptable if the animals were to be raised and killed humanely, or should they be removed from the food-chain altogether? Some animal welfare groups hold the former belief. Please leave your comments on our forum at "http://pub39.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=3289673499&cpv=1" - ITD )