Former President Moon Jae-in and former first lady Kim Jung-sook spend time with Pungsan breed dogs on a lawn at Cheong Wa Dae in August 2021. Screenshot from former President Moon's Facebook account

By Lee Yeon-woo

Former President Moon Jae-in released a statement Monday that he will return two Pungsan breed dogs to the current government, as well as a puppy of the female dog. The two dogs, named Gomi and Songkang, were gifts from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un when the two leaders met in 2018 for their third inter-Korean summit.

Gomi later gave birth to seven puppies in 2021, one of which the presidential couple raised while rehoming the remaining six with other families.

Before leaving the presidential office, Moon spoke with then President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol about the dogs. Yoon recommended Moon keep the dogs himself, an offer Moon accepted.

Any gifts received by a sitting president belong to the government. Before Moon left the presidency, an agreement was signed between a presidential secretary and the head of the Presidential Archives at the time, confirming that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety would cover Moon's expenses for raising the three dogs. The ministry then drew up a draft confirming that it would provide monthly payments of 2.5 million won to Moon in return for raising the three dogs. But the plan has not been implemented yet, due to opposition from the interior ministry as well as the Ministry of Justice.

Moon's announcement that he would return the three dogs to the government came as the expenses were not provided.

"Ex-President Moon has been raising the Pungsan dogs for a long time. He is very disappointed to return the dogs, especially at this time when Gomi went through surgery. But he was comforted by being able to take care of them for six months more (after his retirement). We believe that Presidential Archives will take good care of the dogs, but we hope they will also care for them emotionally," a post uploaded on Moon's social media read.