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Animal rights groups call on Cheongdo County to end annual bullfighting competition

Published: 15 Sep. 2025, 21:04

Fighting bulls clash during the 2023 Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival at the county's bullfighting stadium in Hwayang-eup, Cheongdo County, North Gyeongsang, on April 15, 2023. [YONHAP]

Animal rights groups called on Cheongdo County, North Gyeongsang, to end its annual bullfighting competition after the county revived funding for the festival this year, saying it is animal abuse rather than a cultural tradition.

A coalition for "animal rights action to abolish bullfighting" made the demands in a press conference in front of the Cheongdo County Office on Monday.

“Animal suffering cannot be considered a cultural tradition,” the group said. "[The county] must immediately halt the Cheongdo bullfighting competition and shut down Cheongdo Public Business Corporation, which wastes taxpayers’ money operating the bullfighting arena.”

The coalition includes Animal Liberation Wave, the Basic Income Party’s animal and ecology committee, the Green Party’s animal rights committee and Korea Animal Rights Advocates. They also urged the Cheongdo County Council to hold hearings and conduct a special audit of Cheongdo Public Business Corporation, as well as repeal local ordinances related to bullfighting.

Cheongdo Public Business Corporation — fully funded by Cheongdo County — opened in 2011 but has run annual losses of tens of billions of won, according to the group. Last year, the county provided 9.6 billion won ($6.9 million) in subsidies, but the corporation earned only 59 million won in net profit. In 2021, it posted a deficit of more than 1 billion won.

“With neither cultural justification nor economic benefits left, there is no reason to continue bullfighting,” the coalition said. “Cheongdo must stop wasting taxpayer money and end the controversy over animal abuse.”

Cheongdo County did not allocate funds for a bullfighting festival last October, but this year, it approved 290 million won in its first supplementary budget, sparking backlash from animal rights groups.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]