The South Korean market where you can still buy dog meat, but not for long

Seongnam/Seoul: It has been more than seven years since the butchering facilities at South Korea’s largest dog meat market were dismantled and the precinct rebranded as a hotspot for black goat meat.

Gone, too, are the cramped metal cages that used to sit outside butcher stores at Moran Livestock Market in Seongnam, south of Seoul, and the throngs of customers who handpicked as many as 80,000 dogs each year for purchase or live slaughter on site.

Today, signs with cartoon black goats welcome shoppers to a much more sanitised, smaller precinct.

Kim Yong-bok has run a dog meat restaurant in Seongnam, South Korea, for 30 years. Credit: Sean Na

But for those who want it – and it is a dwindling cohort – dog meat can still be found here. For now.

In early 2027, a total ban on the dog m