Rapid cultural change, dog meat legislation, and a growing movement reshaping Korea's relationship with animals
South Korea is undergoing one of the fastest animal welfare cultural transformations in the world. A country that was internationally known for its dog meat industry just decades ago has, in 2024, passed legislation banning the slaughter of dogs for food — a change that would have seemed impossible twenty years earlier. The speed of this shift reflects broader cultural change driven by younger Koreans, rising companion animal ownership, and sophisticated domestic advocacy.
South Korea's Animal Protection Act (first enacted 1991, significantly strengthened multiple times since) provides the legislative foundation for welfare protection. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs administers animal welfare policy. Korea now has some of the most progressive animal welfare legislation in Asia.
South Korea's National Assembly passed legislation banning the slaughter and sale of dogs for human consumption in January 2024, with a three-year phase-out period. This landmark law ends an industry that at its peak slaughtered an estimated 1 million dogs annually. The change reflects dramatic generational shift in Korean attitudes toward dogs.
Multiple rounds of strengthening the Animal Protection Act have introduced: mandatory microchipping of companion animals, improved shelter standards, stronger penalties for cruelty, and welfare standards for animals sold in pet shops. The 2023 amendments included new provisions on animal abuse and abandonment.
Major Korean food companies and retailers including CJ CheilJedang, Lotte, and major supermarket chains have made cage-free egg commitments following campaigns by Korean animal advocacy organizations and international groups including Humane Society International Korea.
Korea's vegan population has grown from negligible numbers a decade ago to an estimated 1.5% of the population. Seoul now has hundreds of dedicated vegan restaurants. Plant-based options in mainstream Korean cuisine are becoming standard.
Despite welfare improvements in some areas, Korean factory farming — particularly for pigs and poultry — operates with welfare standards significantly below EU levels. Battery cages persist in the laying hen sector beyond cage-free committed companies. Gestation crates are standard in pork production.
South Korea has a significant companion animal industry — breeding, pet shops, and accessory retail — that raises welfare concerns. Puppy mills, inadequate pet shop standards, and high companion animal abandonment rates remain issues that advocacy organizations are working to address.
Exotic animal cafes (raccoon, owl, and other species), wildlife tourism, and the traditional medicine wildlife trade create welfare harms that are less regulated than companion and farm animal sectors. Advocacy organizations are working to address these issues but enforcement is inconsistent.
Korean office of HSI, working on dog meat trade phase-out support, cage-free corporate campaigns, and farm animal welfare legislation. Has been central to many of Korea's recent welfare advances.
Long-established Korean advocacy organization working across companion animal, farm animal, and wild animal issues. Operates shelters and advocacy programs.
More radical advocacy organization conducting public demonstrations and undercover investigations. Has raised public awareness of factory farming conditions in Korea.
South Korea's welfare transformation offers lessons for advocates globally: generational change is the most powerful force for cultural norm shifts; companion animal culture creates a natural bridge to broader animal welfare concern; and when cultural change reaches a tipping point, legislative change can happen very quickly. The dog meat ban — which advocates had campaigned for decades — passed within months once political conditions aligned. Patience and persistence matter.