Korean bulls fight it out on their own

Deep in the South Korean countryside, hours away from Seoul, at the bullfighting festival in Cheongdu, the crowds are gearing up for the matches.

The bulls are led out into the center of the stadium by their trainers and when the whistle blows, the two animals ram one another head first.

The matches only last a few minutes. There’s a lot of grunting, as the bulls shove each other back and forth. All the while, their trainers shout commands at them.

Finally, one bull unlocks himself and runs off. The other is declared victor and the crowd goes wild.

Up in the stands, Cheongdo local, Kim Seun Shik explains that he likes the fights and "the bulls because they are aggressive – just like the men from this province. They’re not only tough but they use their heads."

Training is tough

Outside the stadium, some of the bulls that have already fought stand in pens, tied up with ropes that run through the rings on their noses. Trainer Choi Jang Jin is tending his two victorious beasts – Shindeoksan and Mogi.

Choi trains the bulls for an hour every day by hanging a tire by a rope so that they can wrestle with it. But it is not so easy – each bull weighs around 820 kilos and he has been knocked over before during a match.

However, he says, so far he has not gotten cut by one of their horns, as happens to them sometimes. He feels bad when they get hurt. "Today, one got a little injured so you can see the purple ointment around his horn."

Animal rights activists want to ban bullfighting

Trainers are not the only ones to get upset by hurt bulls. Animal rights activists want to ban the bullfights, but these have a lot of political support because they are seen as being traditional.

Jo Hee Kyung, the head of an animal welfare NGO in Seoul, explains that there is a law to protect the bullfights. The best animal rights activists can do is to try to keep the matches out in the countryside and away from bigger cities, so that even more money isn’t made from the animals.

Jo points out that betting on bullfights is one of the only legal types of gambling in South Korea.

Owner of winning bull gets taken out for dinner and drinks

Back at the Cheongdo stadium, long-time bullfight fan Jang Jae Ki says that wagering on these matches goes back a long time and it’s not always just for money.

"In the old times, the loser would help others with their farming, but today we just buy the winner dinner or take them out for drinks."

Jang says he too feels that the bullfights should not be brought to the city but should stay right here in the countryside, where they always have been.

Author: Jason Strother
Editor: Anne Thomas