North Korea promotes dog‑meat soup and summer dishes as temperatures hit record levels in Pyongyang

North Korean state media have promoted traditional summer dishes — including dog‑meat soup and chicken broth — as a way to cope with an ongoing heatwave that has scorched the Korean Peninsula.

State television reported that temperatures in Pyongyang reached 36.7 degrees Celsius, the highest recorded in the capital since meteorological records began. Coverage has focused unusually intensively on the hottest stretch of the year known locally as sambok, or the dog days of summer.

Cooling foods and 'nutritive' soups

A health feature published on 2 August in the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun quoted a doctor at the General Hospital in Pyongyang recommending cooling foods such as watermelon, cucumbers and mung beans, and also urged consumption of what the article called “nutritive food,” naming dog‑meat soup and porridges made from fish and red bean.

The same Rodong Sinmun piece ran a separate text celebrating dog‑meat soup as a traditional summer dish and repeated an old saying: "even if dog‑meat soup is poured over your foot during the hottest summer days, it becomes a remedy." The article also noted that a national competition for preparing dog‑meat dishes had been held earlier this year.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) meanwhile praised samgyetang — a chicken soup with ginseng, sticky rice and jujube — and said restaurants in Pyongyang were drawing customers seeking relief from the heat. Korean Central Television (KCTV) aired health segments about staying hydrated and offered advice on swimming and exercising outdoors.

North Korea has not released figures on any heat‑related deaths. By contrast, South Korea has reported more than 20 fatalities linked to the same heatwave. State outlets also showed crowded beaches and pools in the coastal Wonsan‑Kalma resort area and busy water parks in Pyongyang as people sought to escape the heat.

Alongside lifestyle and health coverage, state media repeatedly presented leader Kim Jong‑un in narratives that emphasize his willingness to endure harsh conditions with ordinary citizens. The Rodong Sinmun recalled past trips and scenes meant to illustrate his fortitude, quoting an exchange in which Kim said: "even when the weather is unbearably hot, the work that must be finished for the people should be finished." State outlets did not detail his activities during the current heatwave.

Photo: B Aldridge / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia