The Gupo Meat Market in Busan, S. Korea, with it’s revitalization project officially underway, has confirmed that all 19 of the dog vendors will be closing their stalls in the market before July 12th (the will start negotiations of closures on July 1). The importance of this date? Well, July 12th is the beginning of the 30 days for Boknal this year where 1.5 million dogs will be consumed in S. Korea (this is the traditional “festival” of sorts that Mom has been trying to gain more exposure on)! The Bukku District will be providing $2.5 million in supplemental funds to the 19 vendors through December 2020 at which point the new “revitalized” shopping mall will open. If the vendors opt to open a stall with a different business inside the mall, they will then continue to receive a $250 stipend per month.
Is this actually happening?! YES! Change comes slowly….too slowly sometimes but this is a huge step and one that needs to be acknowledged. We knew about this revitalization project but until these specifics were published (and confirmed by Grandma Nami, we didn’t want to post about it). Obviously it is a small portion of the big problem and the dog meat trade is still very much alive and “well” there, but we must take every positive and embrace it.
