Despite financial pressure from the South Korean government, dog meat restaurants are still cooking.
Eating dog is mostly unpopular in modern South Korea and is becoming more taboo, but "bosingtang," which literally means “invigorating stew,” is still on some menus.
During the 1988 Seoul Olympics. the South Korean government banned the sale of dog meat in parts of the city.
In preparing for this year's games, officials offered restaurants 2 million won (about $1,850) to get rid of any mention of dog meat from their signs and stop serving it.
PyeongChang County official Lee Yong Jae told NBC News:
“The government doesn’t want tourists to be offended by it."
Lee said two restaurants accepted the deal, but they lost business and started selling dog again. A woman named Ms. Choi operates a restaurant within walking distance of Gangneung Station, where locals and tourists arrive daily from Seoul on a new high-speed rail line built just for the Olympics.
Choi said:
"Cows also cry when they go to slaughter, so why do people hate eating dog so much?"
She added that she's wanted to own a dog meat restaurant since she was a child, when her parents cooked her bosingtang. Choi says she's very proud of her restaurant.