ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – A one-year-old Korean Jindo recently captured attention as it made a remarkable journey back home after being missing for 41 days.
The heartwarming tale of Hong-min, a Jindo residing in Daejeon with owner Yoon Jeong-sang, surfaced on a local YouTube channel. Yoon, a devoted soccer enthusiast and caretaker of 10 Jindos, bestowed the name Hong-min upon the pup, mistakenly believing it to be linked to the football star Son Heung-min.
The adventurous pup vanished on March 24 during a visit to a dog convention in Moksang-dong, Daejeon. Startled by the loudspeaker noises and the cacophony of other canines, the then-11-month-old fled the scene.
Yoon was unable to find him despite reaching out to local animal shelters and district offices.
Hopes were not high for the dog to return home on his own, as the convention was held over 20 kilometres away from their homes and the area was completely new to the young dog.
Last Friday, Yoon was alerted by the dogs barking at the junkyard he runs. He saw brown fur that reminded him of Hong-min and called out, “Hong-min, is that you?”
He approached the dog wagging his tail and found that it was indeed his young dog that had gone missing.
Despite wandering the streets for over a month, the dog did not lose much weight or suffer major injuries, according to Yoon. The only medical care he needed was for the ticks he attracted while in the wilderness.
Yoon said that Hong-min spent a few days back home lying down, but has since fully recovered and is eating and playing well.
The owner noted that the dog had been particularly smart and gentle from a very young age, and that he picked up on basic commands like “sit” or “get up” unusually quickly.
Indigenous to the South Korean island of Jindo, South Jeolla Province, Jindo dogs are known for their intelligence and loyalty. There have been some stories of Jindo dogs travelling great distances to locate their owners. In 2000, the Jindo dog Jinsuni made headlines by returning on her own to home in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, multiple times, once after being kidnapped and taken to Gochang, North Jeolla Province, some 200 kilometres away.
