Fish autopsy reveals animal cruelty at Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival

By Lee Hae-rin

A recent study by an animal advocacy group showed that fish were subjected to painful suffocation at the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, the nation’s premier winter festival held in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province.

The winter festival, which attracts over 1 million visitors annually, has long been criticized for animal cruelty, but this is the first time an autopsy has provided proof.

The animal welfare group Action for Animals released the 2025 Sancheoneo Festival Report on Sunday, containing the results of an autopsy on the freshwater fish caught during this year’s festival.

A total of 18 fish were examined, and all showed physical damage, primarily to the tail fin (83 percent), followed by eye bleeding (78 percent) and injury to the dorsal fin (72 percent).

Such fin damage typically occurs in overcrowded breeding conditions at fish farms.

Notably, 14 of the 18 fish had bloodshot eyes, indicating they died from suffocation and pain after being exposed to air following capture.

“Fish receive oxygen from the water through gills, but when it comes out of the water and oxygen supply is not smooth, the blood pressure rises sharply," said Action for Animals' leader Chun Chae-eun, a veterinary school graduate who conducted the autopsy.

She explained that when pressure is applied to the capillaries in the eyes, congestion occurs, similar to what happens to a human who dies from suffocation.

Suffocation is an animal slaughter method that is avoided internationally.

The guidelines of the American Veterinary Medical Association suggest that slaughtering fish should be done underwater to minimize injury and stress, and the time outside the water should be kept as short as possible.

The World Organization for Animal Health also stipulates that animals must be unconscious when they are killed for industrial purposes, while the European Union legislation on the killing of animals also requires minimizing their pain through the use of properly approved stunning methods.

However, the festival is operating in a way that inevitably exposes fish to the air for a long time after capture, the group noted.

Participants usually catch the fish and leave them on the ice floor or put them in a plastic bag as requested by the event organizers. However, since plastic bags are not filled with water, captured fish suffer hours of suffocation and die before they are consumed as grilled or raw fish on site.

"Even if these freshwater fish were born and bred to entertain participants, it may be unethical to make them suffocate to death or enter the grill fire while conscious," Chun said.

"Efforts are being made worldwide to minimize the suffering of animals, even when they are used for food,” she added. "I hope that Korea will also begin such efforts."

A total of 171.5 tons of freshwater fish were raised in 18 fish farms nationwide for this year’s event, accounting for 90 percent of the fish bred and farmed across the country.