Honorable Mention / 2018 / Press / General News

Issue of dog meat in Korea

  • Photographer
    Hanjo Jung, Korea, Republic of
  • Studio
    KONG Media

In 2017, a massive rally was held in Korea against dog meat eating in
the presence of many foreigners. Koreans have eaten dog meat since
long years ago. Still, three million dogs are slaughtered every year. This
is why Korea is criticized by animal rights groups, internally and
externally. But this is not simple than thought. In Korea, the people
working in dog meat eating industry reaches one million. If the dog
meat is banned, their rights for living are threatened. And foreign
criticism rather causes adverse effects by hurting our cultural pride. For
this reason, the government still cannot find a clear solution for this.
Dog is not a simple companion animal in Korea. Dog is a difficult issue
with long tradition, politics, economy, and social issues of Korea
intricately connected.

I am a Korean photographer and photo critic. I majored in fine art and photography in University, Korea and got a doctor’s degree in Art Plastic. Since then, I have established KONG Media and started planning · making documentary photographs and films. I have presented a lot of documentary photographs and won 30 prizes at the leading international photo contests like IPA and P×3, etc. In addition, I also planned several documentary films.