Dog meat campaign canned

Dogs are bred to be eaten in South Korea

By the BBC's Caroline Gluck in Seoul

South Korean defenders of an old culinary tradition, dog meat eating, have been forced to postpone plans to launch a nationwide federation at a one-day seminar.

The owner of the venue, Korea Telecom, said the meeting could not be held - officially because the building was double-booked.

Many who would not even eat dog meat are defending their country's cultural tradition

But organisers say they were informed just two days before the controversial seminar was due to go ahead.

Several participants said they suspected other pressures were behind the decision.

Fight back

There has been huge publicity about the one-day seminar after South Korea's tradition of dog meat eating had come under attack from animal rights campaigners around the world.

A group of around 100 dog meat restaurant owners were planning to fight back.

They had planned to launch a national federation to promote dog meat to foreign visitors in the run-up to the World Cup football finals.

The seminar was due to discuss ways of promoting the dog meat restaurant industry, including launching websites in English and Japanese to defend the practice.

But the plug has been pulled on the meeting before it got under way.

Officially, the venue was double-booked. But the building owners, Korea Telecom, later said they had been misled about the nature of the meeting.

World Cup publicity has also brought attention to dog meat eating

They told the BBC they had been inundated with complaint calls from members of the public.

The controversy over dog meat eating has infuriated many South Koreans.

Dog meat eating is not widely practised, but many who would not even eat dog meat are defending their country's cultural tradition.

Critics of the practice are concerned at the illegal ways some dogs are killed to make the meat more tender, including beating and hanging.

But defenders are supporting a bill to legalise the sale of dog meat. They say if passed, the law would allow officials to regulate the industry and crack down on those who kill dogs in inhumane ways.