Korea’s last boknal before dog meat ban reflects fading tradition

Friday marks Korea’s final boknal — one of the three traditionally hottest days of summer — before a nationwide ban on the dog meat industry takes effect in February 2027. For generations, Koreans have eaten restorative foods such as samgyetang, or ginseng chicken soup, and boshintang, a soup made with dog meat, on boknal. But ahead of the ban, the latter is rapidly disappearing from the summer ritual. Hwang, 70, has run his boshintang restaurant for more than 30 years. He told local daily Seoul