The infographic highlights the trend of South Koreans favoring dog companionship over human partners for various reasons, which poses significant challenges for the South Korean government regarding future economic growth due to the country’s lowest birth rate of 0.7 per woman, whereas a rate of 2.1 is necessary.
South Koreans are choosing to live with dogs over humans by Michael BroadHere are some examples courtesy The Sunday Times. “I got married late, and now my current life is more important”, said Kang Ga-hyeong, who lives on the outskirts of Seoul with her husband and her Maltese dog called Sarangi. She has given up on the idea of children. She said that, “Having Sarangi with me 24-hours a day means I’m never lonely. Just looking at her makes me happy.”
A 40-year-old teacher, Kang In-hae, also lives on the outskirts of South Korea’s capital city. She has chosen to make a partner of her companion dog, a Pomeranian called Merrong. Her dog gives her “more things to smile about”. And she added that, “It’s about being able to give and receive love endlessly.”
There is a very broad societal shift with companion animals mainly dogs but sometimes cats and other pets filling the emotional need of a cohort of young people. They have become gradually more individualistic. Their attitude would seriously upset Pope Francis, the current Pope, who has consistently said that young couples should have real children and he has decried very strongly that it is wrong perhaps a sin in the eyes of God to have a pet rather than children.
I’m afraid that he is out of step with the modern world. There are changing pressures and one factor which is not mentioned is that often young people see a troubled world and they don’t want to bring a child into it. That is not mentioned in my researched information but my opinion and I believe that it is a valid one.
As you can imagine the pet industry has been very fast growing in South Korea with pet travel agencies offering packages including beach tours and pet aromatherapy.
There are hotels with dedicated pet friendly rooms and gourmet room service for pets.
And airlines have introduced pet only chartered flights to the holiday island of Jeju were dogs and owners can sit next to one another.
There are also pet day care centres which can be more expensive than children’s nurseries. They provide activities, socialisation for the dogs and updates to their owners.
You can buy very high-quality premium pet food in South Korea including organic treats and pet supplements. Sales of these products are booming and also there are pet friendly cafés and restaurants which are proliferating.
Often dogs are preferred to kids in South Korea. This has indirectly led to the near-future banning of dog meat (2027), a change instigated by the wife – a dog lover – of the Yoon the country’s president.
The Labour Minister of South Korea, Kim Moon-soo is displeased with the development. He has chastised young people saying: “Young people are not loving each other. Instead, they love their dogs and carry them around. They don’t get married and they don’t have children.”
