"Recognized as a Folk Game, but Universal Values Considered"
Animal Rights Groups: "Welcoming and Supporting the National Heritage Agency's Decision"
The traditional culture of ‘Sosssaum,’ a contest where two horned oxen butt heads and fight, is being fiercely debated between claims of it being a cultural tradition and criticisms of animal cruelty. Meanwhile, the procedure to designate Sosssaum as a national intangible heritage is unlikely to proceed.
On the 25th, the National Heritage Agency announced that the Intangible Heritage Committee recently decided not to conduct a designation investigation this year to determine whether Sosssaum merits being newly designated as a national intangible heritage item.
Based on preliminary academic research results, the committee concluded, “While the value as a folk game is partially recognized, considering universal human values, the designation investigation will not be conducted.”
Sosssaum is a competition where two oxen with horns butt heads and fight. Currently, some local governments, such as Cheongdo in Gyeongbuk Province, hold Sosssaum annually as part of folk events.
According to the ‘Traditional Sosssaum Competition Act,’ ten local governments (Gimhae, Uiryeong, Jinju, Changnyeong, Changwon, Haman, Cheongdo, Dalseong, Wanju, and Boeun) can hold the event with permission from the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. However, due to the negative connotations of the word ‘fight’ implying animal cruelty, the event’s name was changed to ‘Ox Strength Contest’ starting in 2022.
The Korean Folk Encyclopedia of the National Folk Museum defines Sosssaum as “a traditional folk game that has naturally been carried out since about 2,000 years ago when oxen were used in Korea,” which is the basis for local governments’ claims that Sosssaum is a legitimate folk game.
However, animal protection groups argue that feeding herbivorous oxen carnivorous health tonics such as snake soup and dog soju, subjecting them to harsh training and fights, constitutes animal cruelty and have demanded its abolition.
The Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee, which discusses designation and cancellation of national intangible cultural heritage, agreed at a meeting last year that “it is necessary to carefully examine problematic aspects related to Sosssaum through academic research.” The National Heritage Agency announced a ‘Preliminary Academic Research Service on Sosssaum Intangible Heritage’ in April last year.
The National Heritage Agency decided to first conduct academic research and investigation related to Sosssaum through expert meetings and then discuss whether to proceed with the designation investigation based on the results. The academic research reviewed the domestic and international transmission status of Sosssaum, similar cases, and collected opinions from various sectors regarding the national intangible heritage designation.
Following the announcement of the meeting results, the ‘National Action to Abolish Animal Cruelty Sosssaum,’ composed of Animal Rights Action Kara, Animal Freedom Union, and Animal Liberation Wave, released a statement on the same day welcoming and supporting the National Heritage Agency’s decision. They emphasized, “Defining artificially forcing animals to fight as animal cruelty is a globally widespread recognition,” and “Sosssaum is a clear case of animal cruelty and a violation of the Animal Protection Act.”
Meanwhile, since early last year, with the transition to a legal and administrative system centered on ‘national heritage’ instead of the previous ‘cultural heritage,’ intangible cultural heritage has been renamed ‘intangible heritage,’ and national intangible cultural heritage has been renamed ‘national intangible heritage.’
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