Activists criticize local governments that cash in on bull fights

Two bulls fight during a match held in Cheongdo County, North Gyeongsang Province, March 2021. Newsis

By Lee Yeon-woo

Two bulls weighing about 800 kilograms to 1.2 tons butt each other with their horns. Their firm muscles are shaking. Their eyes are all bloodshot. In a flash, one bull whirls his head around and runs away. The crowd betting on his opponent's victory cheer.

Korean bull fights involve two bulls fighting for as long as 30 minutes. The bull that turns his head away or runs away becomes the loser. The bulls often end up bleeding or even breaking their horns. This culture survives in southern regions of Korea, in such areas as Cheongdo County in North Gyeongsang Province, and Jeongeup in North Jeolla Province.

Amid the increasing importance of animal rights in Korea, calls are growing to stop this tradition as it forces animals to fight against their will for people's entertainment ― with spectators placing bets on the results. However, local governments of these regions where bull fights have survived insist that it is a traditional culture essential to activating local tourism.

"A bull's nature is against fighting, but they suffer unnecessary pain by bumping and mangling their heads and horns in the competitions … These actions only aim for one thing: human amusement," said Lee Ji-eun, an activist from Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA). "The fact that it has been handed down from the past doesn't mean that it's worth passing down to the future."

There is no record of when and how bull fights began in Korea. But it is assumed to have first started during the Three Kingdoms Period in Korea from 57 B.C. to A.D. 668. Scholars say it was one way to celebrate the end of farming for the year during village festivals.

A crowd watches a bull fighting match, some grasping betting slips, at Cheongdo Bullfighting Stadium in Cheongdo County, North Gyeongsang Province, 2011. Korean bull fighting is a "folk game" going back centuries, but activists say gambling on the sport should end. Korea Times file

Animal rights activists claim that cultivating fighting bulls with "inhumane methods" and offering gambling on the outcome of fights has nothing to do with the tradition which sought harmony between villages.

"Since seven months old, bulls selected as fighting bulls have to go through a terrible process of rearing. They are forced to increase endurance in ways such as drawing tires filled with concrete and running in mountains. When the match day approaches, people feed bulls ― which are herbivores ― what they call 'health food' such as loach soup, snake soup, live octopus and many more," said Yoo Jiu, an activist from Korean Animal Rights Advocates (KARA).

"Fighting bulls compete for five years on average. Then what happens to the old bulls whose fighting power wane? Despite the honor and extensive care they once had, most of them are slaughtered," Yoo added.

Eleven local governments continue bull fights, including Cheongdo, Jeongeup and Jinju in South Gyeongsang Province. Cheongdo runs a stadium, while Jinju holds matches every Saturday except during winter. Other regions hold matches once or twice a year.

Local governments defend the tradition as it does not aim to kill bulls as is done in bullfighting in Spain. They claim that it is not abusing the animals because the match ends when the bulls step back and run away.

Encouraging bull fights also helps the regions to develop their economies. The matches can lure tourists and allow legal gambling as it is considered a "folk game" under the current law. Even though the current Animal Protection Act prohibits "inflicting an injury upon an animal for the purpose of gambling, advertising, amusement, or entertainment," what the law defines as "folk games" ― such as bull fights ― are excluded from the application of the law.

For instance, Cheongdo Public Business Corporation, which runs an arena for bull fights in Cheongdo, makes a profit from gambling on bulls. Its sales reached 29.6 billion won ($22.77 million) in 2022 after it reopened the stadium for the first time in four years after a pandemic shutdown. Tourists visit nearby restaurants and tourist sites after watching the bull fights, bringing additional profits to the region.

Animal rights activists and Green Party Korea members hold a press conference in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, Feb. 13. Newsis

Animal rights watch groups and Green Party Korea (GPK) held a press conference on Feb. 13 and requested the government revise the current Animal Protection Act which considers bull fights a folk game.

"In 2010, Spain's Catalonia approved a bill banning bullfighting, which was signed by 180,000 people. No single bullfighting has been held there since the first day of 2012. It's in different shape, but Korean bull fights are also an obvious action of abusing bulls only for human amusement," Kim Chan-hwi, co-leader of the GPK, said at the press conference held in front of the National Assembly in Seoul.

"We learned that society develops by ending wrong traditions. We request the 21st National Assembly eliminate the exception clause and halt budget support for bull fights. This barbarism should be ceased."