The horse that died after shooting a scene where it falls throwing a major character off its back in the KBS drama, The King of Tears, Lee Bangwon (Yi Bang-won) turned out to be Kami, a retired racehorse. After this news got out, more people have shown interest in the life of racehorses that fall behind competition or retire. People point out that we need to examine the entire lifespan of horses, which are used and abandoned according to the people’s needs, from the perspective of animal rights. Voices are calling for the state to urgently establish a welfare system including shelters for retired racehorses.

According to the opinions of animal right groups and broadcasting insiders on January 23, Kami was a thoroughbred that had lived as a racehorse until he was 4-5 years old and was sent to a horse rental business at the end of last year. About 1,400 racehorses like Kami retire every year according to the Korea Racing Authority. Among them 42.2% move on to other uses--display, education, breeding and horse riding--after retirement, while 48.1% are slaughtered due to disease or injuries. The remaining 9.7% are categorized as “other uses,” meaning their exact usage has not been identified.

The problem is that the percentage of horses labeled as “other uses,” whose whereabouts are hard to trace, continues to increase every year. According to the data that Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Wi Seong-gon of the parliamentary Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee obtained from the Korea Racing Authority, the proportion of horses under “other uses” increased from 5% (70 horses) in 2016 to 6.4% (89 horses) in 2017, 7.1% (99 horses) in 2018, 7.4% (103 horses) in 2019 and 22.5% (308 horses) in 2020.

The Kyunghyang Shinmun checked the e-procurement system of the Korea Racing Authority and confirmed that among the 43 successful bids of retired racehorses (horses without uses) in the last five years, 83% (35 bids) of the horses were purchased by businesses or individuals not related to horses.

These horses are likely to have been illegally slaughtered or sold for private purposes. The problem is that the horses, which lie outside regulations, are that much more likely to suffer abuse.

Animal rights advocates argue for an urgent need to set up a welfare system that covers the entire lifespan of racehorses. The Korean Animal Welfare Association, an animal rights group, and Jeju Vegan, a movement for life and environmental rights, released a statement and said, “After the abuse of a racehorse in 2019, the Korea Racing Authority revised the Horse Welfare Guideline and introduced a horse recording system, but it was not enough to actually improve the treatment of racehorses.”

These groups argued, “We need to review the reality of a racehorse, which is slaughtered at the young age of three or four after racing for humans, and begin work on establishing a welfare system that covers the entire lifespan of racehorses.” They urged, “The Korea Racing Authority, which reaps revenues of 8 trillion won a year from horse races, should also fulfill its moral responsibilities.”