For decades, the three days of summer considered the hottest of the year were among the busiest for South Korea’s dog meat restaurants, as diners sought traditional stamina-boosting foods to endure the heat.
The third “boknal”, or hot day, of 2026 on Friday carried an added sense of finality. It was the last before a nationwide ban on the breeding, slaughter and sale of dogs for meat takes full effect in February 2027.
At the Moran Market in Seongnam, once the country’s best-known hubs for dog...