Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday that he wishes to officially adopt a pair of dogs gifted to him by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, just a day after he returned them to the government due to a lack of financial support from the incumbent Yoon Suk-yeol government.
The indigenous North Korean Pungsan-breed hunting dogs, a male named Songkang and a female named Gomi, were gifted to Moon after an inter-Korean peace summit in Pyongyang in 2018.
They were under Moon’s custody until his retirement. However, the Presidential Records Act bars them from staying with the ex-president after his time in office and were supposed to be returned to the Presidential Archives.
Due to the committee’s lack of facilities to breed animals as well as concerns over animal welfare, the Presidential Archives entrusted the dogs, along with one of their offspring, to Moon on 9 May, the last day of his five-year tenure, after signing an agreement.
In order for Moon to keep the dogs, the federal government is required to revise the Presidential Records Act’s enforcement ordinance. Moon’s team claimed that the revision has yet not been implemented due to “unexplained objection” from Yoon’s office.
“I initially wanted to adopt the pets in a way that endows me with clear ownership of them,” Moon wrote on his Facebook page. He decided, however, that he could no longer raise the three dogs because the current government has refused to cover the cost of their food and veterinary care.
The former leader also took aim at the politicisation of the issue, saying the matter could have been easily resolved if the Yoon administration had amended the law as was decided, or come up with other ways to manage the dogs.
“Let’s stop. If the dogs cannot be up for adoption to me, the current government should take the responsibility for raising and managing them,” Moon said. He also called for a revision of the enforcement ordinance, citing the possibility of similar instances in the future.
Due to a perceived lack of support from the incumbent government, Moon delivered the dogs to officials on Tuesday at a university veterinary hospital in Daegu, where they underwent a medical checkup. The destination of the dogs remains undecided.
Say hello to #Songgangi and #Gomie, two Pungsan dogs sent from North Korea after the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang. Happy to see them getting along so well. #petdog #firstdog #pungsandog https://t.co/KsLIoEKPYZ
— Moon Jae-in's Cheong Wa Dae (@TheBlueHouseENG) October 23, 2018
The Presidential Archives, however, confirmed it had drafted a budget proposal to provide Moon with a monthly subsidy of $1,810 for the dogs, including $360 for food and veterinary care and $1,450 to hire workers to look after them. However, the plans have been put on hold for months due to unspecified “opposing opinions” from within the ministry.
Yoon’s office blamed Moon, saying that it never prevented the former president from keeping the animals and emphasising that he could have waited until the discussions on funding had concluded.
“It was entirely the decision of former President Moon Jae-in to return the Pungsan dogs to the Presidential Archives” instead of waiting out a legislative amendment to secure the subsidies, the president’s office said.
Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki also ruled out the possibility that President Yoon could take custody of the animals, arguing that the president is already raising 10 companion dogs and cats.