Incheon teenagers canceled language training due to public opinion against dog meat in the U.S.

It was belatedly known that Ganghwa-gun, Incheon City tried to send teenagers to the United States for language training, but it was canceled due to public opinion of local hatred against the domestic dog meat eating culture.

According to Ganghwa-gun on the 10th, Ganghwa-gun has been planning and promoting youth language training since early last year with Palisades Park, New Jersey, USA, a friendly city. Accordingly, 12 high school students planned to receive English learning and cultural experiences for three weeks in the United States last December.

However, in June of last year, the city of Palisades Park abruptly notified the suspension of cooperation, and the language training was ultimately cancelled.

The city of Palisades Park believes that the domestic dog meat eating culture is the cause. When the fact that there are breeding grounds that slaughter edible dogs in Ganghwa-gun became known through the Internet, negative public opinion arose in the United States.

It is said that if the city of Palisades Park expands exchanges with Ganghwa-gun through language training, it could be seen as advocating Korea’s dog meat eating culture.

A Twitter post opposing the eating of dog meat, mentioning the friendship between Ganghwa Island and Palisades Park. @JPNW8 Twitter capture

It has been reported that US animal protection groups requested the city of Palisades Park to suspend exchanges with Ganghwa-gun after accessing through social media the video filmed by domestic animal relief organizations raising suspicions of illegal dog slaughter.

Ganghwa-gun said, “It is regrettable that the local training was canceled due to the dog meat eating controversy, but I think it is desirable to understand it due to cultural differences.” I will go,” he said.

Palisades Park is a city in the state of New Jersey in the northeast of the United States. This city has a representative Korean town where 10,115 (51.5%) of the population of 19,622 live. After last year’s mayoral election, a new Korean mayor was inaugurated, and in 2020, a friendly city relationship with Ganghwa-gun was established and continued exchange events.

Source: Donga

Mark

Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.