As Temperatures Soar, North Korea Pushes Dog Soup

North Korea’s state media is telling people to beat record heat with dog soup, cooling foods, and health warnings, while still wrapping the message in propaganda.

Quick Take

Rodong Sinmun published heat-health advice that named watermelon, cucumbers, mung beans, fish porridge, red bean porridge, and dog-meat soup.
State broadcasts also pushed weather alerts and first-aid guidance as temperatures hit 36.7 degrees Celsius in Pyongyang.
Past North Korean heat coverage has mixed public-safety warnings with mobilization language about crops, drought, and “battle.”
Outside reporting says the response looks real, but the propaganda layer makes the motive harder to separate from the message.

State Media Pushes Heat Advice

North Korean state media used a health feature on August 2 to tell people how to cope with extreme heat. Reuters reported that Rodong Sinmun quoted a doctor at Pyongyang General Hospital recommending cooling foods such as watermelon, cucumbers, and mung beans, along with “nutritious foods” like dog-meat soup, fish porridge, and red-bean porridge. The same reporting said state television aired health segments and that Pyongyang hit 36.7 degrees Celsius, its hottest reading on record.

The guidance was not limited to food. NK PRO reported that state television ran alerts through the day with special programs, weather updates, and on-screen captions, while printed media carried near-daily calls to guard against the heat. ChosunBiz also reported that Rodong Sinmun warned heat can worsen cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hyperthyroidism, and it repeated advice on first aid for heat-related illness. That makes the campaign look like a real public-health push, not just a slogan.

Dog Soup Stays in the Spotlight

The most attention-grabbing part of the coverage was dog-meat soup, a dish North Korean officials have long promoted as a summer tonic. Reuters said the paper devoted a separate feature to dog-meat soup and revived an old saying that “even if dog-meat soup spills on the top of your foot during the dog days of summer, it becomes medicine.” That line fits the government’s familiar style: it mixes folk belief, food advice, and state messaging in one package.

Supporters of the advice point to the practical side of the story. Reuters said the newspaper also recommended chicken broth and other hydrating foods, while state television advised drinks for hydration and tips for swimming and outdoor exercise. ChosunBiz reported that the paper framed the advice as a medical response to heat exhaustion, not just a cultural cue. Even so, the dog-meat angle is the part most likely to grab attention abroad.

Heat Warning Meets Propaganda

The deeper pattern is well known. Reuters and earlier reporting from BBC, NK News, and The Korea Times showed North Korean officials describing heat as an “unprecedented natural disaster,” urging citizens to “join the struggle,” and calling for “all resources” to fight drought and crop damage. That history matters because it shows the regime often turns weather into a political duty, not just a safety issue.

Due to heat wave in North Korea:
Kim propaganda recommends dog meat soup+++

Pyongyang: – More than 40 percent of the 26 million North Koreans suffer from hunger, because food shortages and malnutrition are part of the harassment that the Kim dictatorship applies against its own… pic.twitter.com/asI2f7hQek

— LiberlandPress (@PressLiberland) August 11, 2026

Recent reporting shows the same blend again. Reuters said state media paired the heat advice with a familiar propaganda theme about Kim Jong Un enduring the weather alongside ordinary citizens. NK PRO said no outlet reported heat-related casualties, which leaves the scale of the human toll unclear. The Climate Centre also reported that the DPRK Red Cross described a developing emergency and said it was deploying mobile water pumps for irrigation. Those are concrete actions, but the public record still leaves key gaps about how much help reached ordinary people.

What Can Be Said With Confidence

The cleanest reading is simple: North Korea is under severe heat, and its official media is responding with a mix of health guidance, traditional food advice, and regime messaging. The advice appears real enough on its own terms, but it sits inside a system that uses nearly every crisis to reinforce loyalty and control. For readers used to governments that speak plainly, the North Korean approach is a reminder that even a heat warning can come wrapped in state theater.