Kim Jong-un calls on North Koreans to eat dog meat

Mr. Kim Jong-un said dog meat contains many vitamins and is a "super" food that humans should eat.

Leader Kim Jong-un at a factory in Pyongyang. Photo: Guardian.

According to Apple Daily, Mr. Kim has made calls for North Koreans to eat dog meat through domestic media channels.

Mr. Kim Jong-un was quoted by DPRK Today, a North Korean propaganda channel on YouTube, as saying that dog meat has higher nutritional value than beef and chicken and can supplement energy for the human body.

North Korea's state-run KCTV news agency said a reopened dog meat restaurant in Pyongyang had proven that "dog meat has become more unique." Tongil Radio described dog meat as "the best medicine."

"There is an old saying that even a slice of dog meat is a powerful medicine on the hottest days of the year," the radio station said.

Dog meat is a traditional dish on the Korean peninsula. South Korea considers dogs to be pets and is urging people not to eat dog meat, considering it uncivilized.

South Korean archer Ki Bo-Bae, who is participating in the Olympics in Brazil, is said to love eating dog meat, and because of this, she even got into a heated argument with the mother of famous actress Choi Yeo-jin on social media.

In March, North Korea's state news agency KCNA said Pyongyang was in a difficult period due to sanctions from the United Nations and could face "hard battle", a phrase used to describe the period of famine and hardship in the 1990s, which is believed to have caused three million people to starve to death.

Universities in North Korea were temporarily closed in May so that students could travel to the countryside to participate in a month-long "rice planting war" aimed at increasing food production.

According to VNE