Presidential Office: "Foreign Complaints Exceeding 2,000 Annually Disappeared After Dog Meat Ban Law"

"94.6% of National Petitions Received Responses and Actions"

First Lady Kim Keon-hee is seen holding an Alabai, the national dog of Turkmenistan, while conversing with Mrs. Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan at a state banquet held at a hotel in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on the 10th (local time).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 23rd, the Presidential Office announced that the flood of letters requesting the ban on dog slaughter and consumption, which used to come from foreigners around the world every year, disappeared after the enactment of the "Special Act on the End of Breeding, Slaughter, and Distribution of Dogs for Food Purposes" in February this year. While there used to be about 2,000 letters each year requesting the prohibition of dog slaughter and consumption, no related complaints have been received this year.

On the same day, the Presidential Office released a press statement commemorating the 2nd anniversary of the launch of the online communication channel "National Proposals," stating, "Over the past two years, more than 134,000 proposals and 43,000 letters have been received, demonstrating high public interest and participation."

National Proposals has been operated since June 23, 2022, with the purpose of directly hearing the voices of the people at the Presidential Office and resolving public inconveniences beyond the barriers of government ministries. The Presidential Office explained, "The response and action rate reached 94.6%, which is much higher than the previous government's public petition response rate of 0.026%," adding, "This is the result of efforts to resolve public inconveniences with an average of about 250 cases per day."

60 Policy Tasks Selected from 134,000 Proposals

Among the 134,000 National Proposals, the Presidential Office selected 60 policy tasks in consultation with relevant ministries from the public’s perspective. These include practical policies such as flexible operation of speed limits in urban areas like school zones, uninterrupted support for child-rearing expenses for children of single-parent families during high school, and expanded Saturday operation of driver’s license test centers.

A Presidential Office official stated, "Among the 60 policies, 22 have been completed, and the remaining 38, which are undergoing procedures such as enactment and revision of related laws, will be thoroughly monitored until final implementation."

Additionally, if immediate policy implementation is difficult but public discussion or further alternative exploration is needed, related agencies conduct additional reviews through online public participation discussions. So far, about 200,000 opinions have been received through five rounds of online discussions on topics such as improvement of assembly and demonstration systems, separate collection of broadcasting fees, and improvement of automobile property tax standards based on engine displacement.

The Presidential Office also reviewed more than 43,000 letters sent by citizens to President Yoon Suk-yeol. Specifically, a young couple raising five children in welfare blind spots (the husband bankrupt, the wife with poor credit) was supported with living expenses and home repairs in cooperation with private relief organizations. For multicultural families, visas were issued for child-rearing purposes, and heating and cooling costs were supported for small unregistered senior centers built through village residents’ fundraising.

The Presidential Office added, "Since the enactment of the dog consumption ban law, nicknamed the Kim Geon-hee Law, in February this year, related complaint letters have completely disappeared, with not a single one received," and stated, "This shows that the changes in the Republic of Korea are well known to people around the world and are positively affecting the country's image."