Amid Heat Wave, North Korea Pushes Dog Meat Soup

North Korea's answer to a punishing heat wave reportedly includes a bowl of dog meat soup. The South China Morning Post reports state newspaper Rodong Sinmun has urged citizens to fight soaring temperatures with "cooling" foods like watermelon and cucumbers, plus "highly nutritious" options such as fish porridge, red bean porridge, and dog meat soup, or dangogi guk (sweet meat soup), as it is known locally. The soup has long been touted by Pyongyang as a "traditional health tonic," in the Post's telling, though one that a former North Korean diplomat says many cannot afford. "It is mostly consumed on hot summer days to help fend off heat exhaustion," Ri Chol told the Post.