South Korea: Cat meat sales posts appear in Vietnamese online community

Posts offering cat meat for sale, accompanied by unmasked photos of processed carcasses, have surfaced in online Facebook groups for Vietnamese residents in South Korea, specifically within communities for the Changwon, Masan, and Gimhae regions.

The posts include images of a hairless cat carcass being weighed on a scale inside a styrofoam box labeled with Korean text such as ‘fresh food’ and ‘handle with care.’ The author of the posts identified themselves as a ‘Korean seafood specialist sales creator’ and instructed interested parties to contact them via private message.

While it remains unconfirmed if actual transactions occurred or how the animals were obtained, South Korean animal protection laws strictly prohibit the killing or capturing of stray animals for sale. Violators can face up to three years in prison or fines of up to 30 million won. In Vietnam, while the consumption of cat meat has historical roots in certain superstitions, authorities have been encouraging the practice to end due to concerns over national image and disease control.