Filming of 'Pamyo' with Real Pig Carcass, Not CG... Kara Raises "Ethical Issues"

Kara "Regret over the practice of using animals as props"

The film "Pamyoh," which surpassed 10 million viewers, was revealed to have used real animal carcasses instead of computer graphics (CG) during production. Some of the fish, specifically sweetfish, used during filming also died.

On the 19th, the Animal Rights Action group Kara's "Animal Appearance Media Monitoring Headquarters" (hereafter Dongmobon) announced that after sending an official letter containing seven inquiries to the production company Showbox on the 12th of last month, they confirmed that the pigs used in the filming of "Pamyoh" were real carcasses, not CG, and that some of the sweetfish used during filming had died.

The official letter sent by Dongmobon included inquiries about the filming process regarding ▲ scenes showing five pig carcasses used in the Daesalgut ritual being repeatedly ovulated ▲ scenes of pigs panicking and fleeing in a pigsty ▲ pigs being brutally attacked to death ▲ scenes where live sweetfish were placed on the ground as bait ▲ a dog (Baekgu) wearing a 1-meter leash at a temple ▲ scenes threatening chickens with a knife, among others.

Movie 'Pamyo' stills [Photo by Movie 'Pamyo'] Movie 'Pamyo' stills [Photo provided by Showbox]

In their response, Showbox stated, "We secured five pig carcasses through a company that distributes livestock products and used them for filming," adding, "The carcasses were retrieved by the company after filming." They further explained, "In the case of fish, we selected sweetfish that had exceeded their normal lifespan from a professional farm intended for consumption and used them. Although the fish were transferred to a tank immediately after filming outside the water, some died." They also mentioned that no veterinarian was present on site, only representatives from the professional company and the farm management accompanied the filming.

Kara expressed concerns that filming with real animal carcasses poses not only ethical issues but also risks to human safety. Kwon Nami, an activist from Kara in charge of Dongmobon, stated, "Overseas, the use of real carcasses is strictly monitored due to risks of decomposition and disease spread, and carcasses are immediately cremated or properly buried after filming." She criticized, "The fact that the 'Pamyoh' production team returned the pig carcasses to the livestock company after filming is inappropriate under domestic livestock hygiene management laws."

She added, "The government should establish media animal appearance guidelines and ensure that production companies comply with them so that animals can be filmed in a safe environment."