Kim Jong-Un sets the dogs on South Korea’s politicians
A pair of dogs given by North Korea’s tinpot leader Kim Jong-Un to South Korea’s former president Moon Jae-in in 2018 are fighting for scraps at the centre of a political row.
The former president blames his conservative successor for the problem. Moon does not want to pay for food for a pair of dogs he didn’t ask for (but really did), and thinks the Korean people should buy his dogs’ dinner.
Moon received the two white pungsan – a breed said to be indigenous to North Korea – from Kim at a peace summit in Pyongyang in September 2018. The two pups were lucky to escape because in 2020 Kim ordered the confiscation and consumption of all dogs in the country’s capital, Pyongyang. Stating that dogs represented Western decadence, lucky dog owners were given the chance to either eat their dogs or give them up as takeaways.
Moon’s dogs are state property, but he was delighted to take the pair and one of their puppies home with him when he left office, having gone so far as to change the law to allow him to do so.
Now Moon, reportedly worth US$8 million (300 million baht), has abandoned the dogs because President Yoon Suk Yeol refuses to pay for this dog’s breakfast. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said that the dogs were returned to the government on Tuesday and were being examined at a veterinary hospital in Daegu.
In a Facebook post, Moon’s office accused Yoon’s office of “inexplicably” blocking the ministry’s proposal to pay the multimillionaire for his beloved companion animal’s care.
The ministry confirmed it had a budget to provide 2.5 million won (US$1,800) to ensure the animals continued to live in the luxury to which they were accustomed in the impoverished north. This includes 500,000 won (US$360) for dog food and vet bills, and 2 million won (US$1,400) to pay someone to take the ex-president’s doggies for walkies.
According to Korea’s national statistics office, the average annual income of a North Korean citizen was around 1.4 million won (US$1,300) in 2019. Let’s make no bones about it: These dogs are eating up more in a month than 16 North Koreas eat in an entire year.
Yoon’s office shifted the blame to Moon, saying it had never prevented him from keeping the animals and that the discussions about financial support were still ongoing.
“It was entirely the decision of former President Moon Jae-in to return the dogs to the presidential archives,” Yoon’s office said.
Moon met Kim three times in 2018 and was deeply involved in setting up Kim’s laughable meetings with former US President Donald Trump.
Having met Trump, Kim decided to counter “gangster-like” US pressure with more fake nukes. Dozens of dud missiles have been fired into the middle of nowhere this year, providing the United States and its regional allies with all the excuses they need to further punish the innocent North Korean people for their lunatic leader’s insanity.
