A U.S. Democratic Representative has apologized after stirring up controversy over prejudice against Korea by mentioning dog meat consumption while criticizing Kristi Noem, the Governor of South Dakota, who is being mentioned as a Republican vice-presidential candidate.
According to U.S. political media such as Politico, on May 6th (GMT), US Representative Jared Moskowitz wrote on his X (Previously Twitter) about Governor Noem’s CBS interview, “Why do I get the feeling he wants to eat dog meat with Kim Jong Un?”
Governor Noem is a prominent Republican female politician who was mentioned as former President Donald Trump’s running mate. She recently stirred up controversy by revealing that she had killed a puppy. In her memoir, she confessed that she had shot and killed a 14-month-old puppy that showed excessive aggression.
In her memoir, she also wrote that she had met with North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un, which turned out to be untrue. In a CBS interview, Governor Noem admitted her mistake: “That anecdote about Kim Jong Un should not have been included in the book.”
With links to Kim Jong Un and dog consumption, Moskowitz’s post was criticized even by his party for promoting prejudice against Asians, mainly Koreans. Korean-American Democratic Representatives Andy Kim (New Jersey) and Marilyn Strickland (Washington) issued a statement saying, “We appreciate our colleague’s fight against Republican extremism,” but also criticized, “We cannot perpetuate harmful stereotypes in the process.” Politico also pointed out that the post “invokes widespread racial stereotypes against Asian Americans.”
As the controversy spread, Representative Moskowitz deleted the post and stated, “It was a joke about Kristi Noem and the dictator of North Korea,” and “I deleted the post because I did not want it to be misinterpreted and cause discomfort to many communities. I do not want to ride on such stereotypes.”
