More S. Koreans avoiding dog meat in favour of black goat stews

Eateries selling once popular dish see decline in business amid crackdown

- Wendy Teo

July 15 was Chobok in South Korea, which marks the first of the three hottest days of summer between July and August.

The centuries-old practice sees South Koreans eating dog meat stew or "boshintang" on this day to nourish their bodies under the summer heat.

But there was hardly any dinner crowd at Madam Lee Kyung-ja's boshintang restaurant in Seoul's Dongdaemun market this year.

It is the worst Chobok in the eatery's 40-year history, she told The Straits Times, estimating that her eatery has served about only 20 per cent of the customers they usually see.

This was in stark contrast to November 2023, when the eatery saw a surge in business amid a debate over a proposed Bill to end the country's dog meat trade by 2027.

The Bill was passed in January, and business has since nosedived for Madam Lee, 73. She plans to switch to selling stews made with black goat meat, which is said to have a similar texture to dog meat, in two years' time instead.

"I didn't think I could do anything else after selling boshintang for 40 years. But I have started to go around Seoul to try out black goat stews. I am going to teach myself how to prepare the meat and cook it so that it tastes similar to dog meat stew," she said.

In South Korea, younger locals have embraced ginseng chicken soup as the alternative dish to beat the summer heat, but the older generation still prefers the heartier boshintang.

In 2024, though, many restaurants across the country selling dog meat stew saw a stark decline in business during Chobok, local media reported.