As part of a North Korean dog meat competition held around the three “dog days” (boknal) of summer, South Pyongan Province awarded the three highest-ranking restaurants while handing down orders to the rest of the restaurants to supply dog meat to the government, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK last Friday that regional dog meat cook-offs were held on instructions from the North Korean Association of Cooks leading up to chobok (the first dog day). South Pyongan Province held qualifiers and semifinals that culminated in finals in Pyongsong on July 17, with the winning restaurant going on to the national competition in Pyongyang.
The other competing restaurants then prepared dishes for a dinner party that was attended by the provincial party committee, leaders of people’s committees, military veterans, and individuals who have been honored for their enthusiasm in assisting and caring for veterans.
South Pyongan Province put on a particularly lavish dinner party, placing extra political significance on the cook-off’s proximity to the 70th anniversary of “Victory Day” (which celebrates the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953). A couple of family members who accompanied the aging veterans to the dinner party were allowed to partake in the spread, and the veterans were served an extra plate of food and even allowed to take any leftovers home with them.
An awards ceremony for the provincial cooking competition was held during the dinner party. The top three competing restaurants were given prizes and were nominated as “model work units.”
In contrast, the restaurants that did not place in the cook-off were ordered to supply dog meat to the government.
The quota for a restaurant with 15 employees was 150 kilograms of dog meat by Victory Day. As for restaurants who did not even manage to qualify for the cook-off, South Pyongan Province ordered them to supply the government with 200 kilograms of dog meat each.
“The managers at one large restaurant groused that the supply quota couldn’t be met even if all the dogs in Pyongyang were rounded up and butchered. They found the whole situation absurd and wondered what on earth the government meant to do with so much dog meat,” the source said.
“Fewer families are raising dogs these days because of economic hardship, and those who do have doubled or tripled their asking price because of high demand around the three ‘dog days.’ That leaves restaurant managers in a bind — even if they went into debt, they still couldn’t purchase enough dog meat.”
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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