[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Ahead of the April 15 general election, animal rights organizations revealed that the adoption rates of animal welfare policies by the two major parties, the Democratic Party of Korea and the United Future Party, were low.
The "Animal Rights Election Response Coalition," consisting of 18 organizations including the animal rights group "Kara," held a press conference on the afternoon of the 3rd in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, and disclosed the responses of six political parties regarding the acceptance of 32 policies for animal welfare. The coalition sent a policy proposal consisting of 32 tasks, including three core tasks: ▲ specifying the state's obligation to protect animals in the constitution ▲ guaranteeing the status of animals as distinct from objects under civil law ▲ prohibiting arbitrary slaughter of all animals, to major political parties, suggesting their inclusion in election pledges.
According to the coalition, the ruling Democratic Party only stated that they "are willing to discuss" all three core tasks. The United Future Party showed willingness to adopt only the prohibition of arbitrary slaughter among the three core tasks, while the People's Party expressed partial or full acceptance regarding the guarantee of separate status under civil law and the prohibition of arbitrary slaughter.
Looking at all 32 tasks, the Democratic Party said it would incorporate 12 policies into its election pledges, the United Future Party 25, and the United Future Party 8 policies.
On the other hand, the Justice Party, Green Party, and Minjung Party responded that they would adopt all 32 tasks, including the three core tasks, as pledges or reflect them in pledges with some modifications.
In response, the coalition evaluated that "the adoption rates of the ruling party and the main opposition party were relatively low," and that "the ruling party's response, which did not adopt any of the three core tasks, is very disappointing."
The coalition plans to run a "Vote for Animals" campaign using social networking services (SNS) until the election day on the 15th.
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