A state-run dog meat restaurant in North Korea has been forced to close after a mass food poisoning incident. Around 10 customers reported symptoms including vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea and fever after eating at the establishment in South Pyongan, according to local coverage. Demand for dog meat, known as “dangogi” or sweet meat, annually soars during the country’s summer months, because of local beliefs that consumption drives away heat and boosts stamina.
“The belief is so widespread that even financially struggling households try to eat dog meat at least once during the scene,” Daily NK reports. For a handful of restaurant-goers, the custom majorly backfired during North Korea’s recent sambok season, the traditional three hottest days of the year, however, with some even requiring hospitalisation after the poisoning on July 12.
The restaurant, which was run by the people’s committee of Sunchon, was closed by city officials who launched a joint investigation with the hygeine quarantine office.
The early results of an enquiry into the circumstances of the incident paint a stomach-turning picture themselves, with the establishment appearing to breach basic food safety regulations.
Dog meat stored in the kitchen gave off a “strong odour”, according to reports, with refridgerated ingredients kept at room temperature and hygiene and cleaning measures disrupted by frequent water outages.
Employees said they had to fetch water from a distant well and were forced to use a fridge at another business, around a 30-minute walk away.
While staff members pointed to wider infrastructural problems in municipal water and electricity supply, local officials blamed the food poisoning on “complacency when handling food supplies in the summer”.
North Korea is one of several countries around the world that consumes dog meat, alongside China, Cambodia, India, South Korea, Vietnam and others.
Almost half of the East Asian country’s population was found to be undernourished in a United Nations report published earlier this year, with the prevalence of undernourishment rocketing by 45.5% between 2020 and 2022.
“The country faces chronic food insecurity due to old infrastructure, capacity gaps in technology and skills, natural disasters and a lack of investment in addressing those issues,” Elizabeth Salmon, UN special rapporteur for North Korean human rights, said.