Two dogs gifted to South Korea’s former president Moon Jae-in by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have found a new home after it was reported last month that he was planning on returning the canines.
The federal government in South Korea refused to finance the dogs’ care, leading Moon to give them up last month. Kim gave Gomi and Songgang, both Pungsans, to Moon after their summit in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang in 2018. Pungsans are a breed of hunting dog indigenous to North Korea.
From North Korea to a South Korean Zoo
Gomi and Songgang had been residing at a veterinary hospital in the city of Daegu, in the southeast of South Korea, but moved to a zoo operated by local government in the southern city of Gwangju on Friday (Dec. 9).
The dogs were presented today (Dec. 12) as journalists and members of the public alike took photos. Mayor of Gwangju Kang Gi-jung was in attendance too. “Gomi and Songgang are a symbol of peace and South-North Korean reconciliation and cooperation. We will raise them well, like we cultivate a seed for peace,” he said.
Gomi and Songgang have six offspring. One, Byeol, has been living at the same zoo since 2019. Meanwhile the other five are in other zoos and a public facility in the country.
While officials at the zoo have said they’ll do their best to raise Byeol and her parents together, they’re currently being kept separately as they don’t recognize each other.
Exchanging Gifts
Officially, both pups belong to the state. Moon raised them at his presidential residence while he was in office, and when he left in May he was allowed to take them with him. This was down to a change in law that meant gifts could be kept outside of the Presidential Archives if they were animals and plants.
It’s not the first time a North Korean leader has gifted Pungsan dogs to his South Korean counterpart. In 2000, Kim Jong-il, Kim’s father, gave two Pungsans to the then-South Korean president Kim Dae-jung. Meanwhile, the South Korean president gave the North Korean president two Jindo dogs.
