While the two Koreas multiply missile tests in the airspace of the peninsula, accusing each other of maintaining an escalation, on the ground, the political affair which makes a lot of noise concerns… two dogs. Ironically, they were supposed to symbolize peace, the rapprochement between the two countries, in the form of a diplomatic gift. In 2018, North Korean Kim Jong-un offered them to his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in just after their historic meeting in the House of Peace, on the demarcation line between the two states.
/2022/11/09/636b5867b2244_000-1b41df.jpg)
They are two dogs of a species endemic to North Korea, Pungsan, a male, called Songgang, and a female, Gomi, medium-sized, all white with thick fur. President Moon Jae-in immediately adopted them, they were installed in the presidential residence, they acclimated very well there, to the point of having babies: seven puppies have since been born. And then, last spring, Moon Jae-in’s party lost the election. So he had to give way to his political rival Yoon. And then the question of dogs arose.
As a diplomatic gift, they belong to the archives of the presidential palace, but Yoon the new president does not particularly want them. An agreement was then made between the two men: Moon keeps the dogs and, in exchange, the presidency finances their maintenance. A fairly plump sum, since the former head of state asked for 2.5 million won per month, or 1,800 euros monthly, to pay for kibble, caretaker and veterinarian. Except that, since May, the date of the transfer of power, the money has never been paid.
Monday, November 7, Moon Jae-in therefore announced in a press release published by the Korea Times that “reluctantly, he returns the dogs to the presidency“. Doggies which Yoon still does not want. Thus, on Tuesday, it was the Ministry of the Interior which recovered them and entrusted them to a veterinary practice while waiting for the parliament to decide on their fate as element of national furniture. A symbol of peace that has become an object of contention, and above all an object, their situation has created a wave of indignation on social networks, in Korea and beyond. Internet users who recall that an animal does not is not an object.