It was hard to imagine that ousted President Park Geun-hye could get any more unpopular in South Korea — until she moved out of the presidential palace and left her nine dogs behind.
Just days after being removed from office by the Constitutional Court over a massive corruption scandal, an animal rights group accused Ms Park of animal abandonment for not bringing the dogs with her.
Ms Park’s neighbors had given her a pair of Jindo dogs, a Korean breed of hunting dogs, when she left for the presidential Blue House in 2013. The dogs recently gave birth to seven puppies, which are now considered too young to be separated from their mother, Kim Dong-jo, a Blue House spokesman, said on Wednesday.
Kim said the dogs would continue to stay at the presidential palace until they’re ready to be sent to new owners. Ms Park told staff members to take good care of the dogs before vacating the Blue House on Sunday, he said.
Ms Park’s decision to leave the dogs behind touched off a heated reaction from dog lovers, who flooded social media with angry remarks. “It seems that Park Geun-hye is a person who entirely lacks empathy, whether it’s for humans or for animals,” Park Jeong-eon, an office worker who is unrelated to the ousted president, said.
