North Koreans urged to beat the heat with dog soup
Kyiv • UNN
North Korean authorities recommend hot dishes, including dog meat soup, to combat the heat. Temperatures on the peninsula are reaching 40°C, while South Korea is recording fatalities.
North Korea’s leadership is offering dog-meat soup and hot ginseng broths as home remedies that are supposed to help people better cope with the intense heat. AFP reports, writes UNN.
Details
The Korean Peninsula is experiencing a record-hot summer. In South Korea, 23 people have died because of the heat, while new temperature records were recorded for three consecutive days last week. On Sunday, the temperature reached 42.5°C.
State media report that temperatures in North Korea rose to 40°C. Amid the heat, official propaganda, alongside its traditional bellicose rhetoric, has begun publishing culinary advice that supposedly helps people endure hot weather.
A doctor quoted by the state newspaper Rodong Sinmun said during Sunday’s heat that dog-meat soup is "useful for replenishing nutrients."
On Wednesday, state news agency KCNA suggested preparing samgyetang — a chicken broth with chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, dates and ginseng, which is believed to enhance endurance.
A Korean proverb says: "like cures like
KCNA also claimed that Kaesong ginseng has an "unrivaled medicinal effect," attributing this to "the special properties of the soil and water, as well as a unique cultivation method."
The Korean people consider the tradition of eating hot dishes during the hottest period of summer beneficial to health
Such recommendations sharply contrast with the traditional medicine of other Asian countries, where cooling foods, including winter melon soup, are usually recommended in summer to combat the heat.
Dog-meat soup was once a popular summer dish in South Korea as well, but its sale and production are to be completely banned by February 2027.
On Sunday, when record heat was recorded in South Korea, an AFP journalist visited the demilitarized zone that has divided the two Koreas since the 1950–1953 war ended with an armistice.
Beyond the demarcation line, Kaesong — the city that North Korean authorities call the birthplace of the famous soup — could be seen in the distance through the heat haze.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Seoul sent residents emergency messages urging them to refrain from any outdoor activity.
However, on the outskirts of Kaesong, which could be viewed through binoculars from an observation deck, people were riding bicycles and working in the fields.
Experts say that isolated North Korea is poorly prepared for heat waves, which scientists say are becoming increasingly extreme because of human-caused climate change.
During the heat wave, North Korean state television showed footage of the beaches of Wonsan, where citizens were vacationing at a resort ceremonially opened by Kim Jong Un last summer.
People kayaked, swam on inflatable tubes and rode jet skis along the coast of Kalma Beach, sending seawater splashing into the air.
Fraternal broths
However, beyond this rare resort and outside the view of state media, the situation is likely much more difficult for a country suffering from poverty.
Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior fellow with the Korea Program at the Stimson Center, noted that state media’s focus on ensuring water and electricity supplies indicates serious strain on these systems.
"North Koreans are likely suffering more from the heat than South Koreans because they do not have the same infrastructure," she told AFP.
According to the World Food Programme, more than 40% of North Korea’s 26 million people suffer from undernourishment and have difficulty securing food for themselves.
Meanwhile, Seoul residents are escaping the heat with iced coffee, Italian gelato and frozen acai berry purée.
Despite this, the authorities have repeatedly urged people to stay in air-conditioned buildings. During one baseball game, a man fainted from heatstroke.
North Korean state media regularly praise the ideology of "Juche," which means self-reliance.
They highlight Pyongyang’s military, economic, and cultural achievements as evidence of the country’s superiority, while calling Seoul their "most hostile" adversary.
However, some materials suggest that shared cultural traditions still remain between the two Koreas.