• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.213-214
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• 2010

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.122-129
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to understand the evolution of food culture by applying the evolutionary mechanism to the process of forming the dog meat culture. To do this, this study first examined mutation, selection, and replication as a evolutionary mechanism by biological genes and explain the evolutionary process of food culture by applying so-called 'mime' which is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. In addition, this study also intended to use in-depth interviews on how people have diverse cultural perspectives interpret and accept edible culture of dog meat. In Korea, which was a traditional farming society, dog meat which is easier to obtain compare to beef has been chosen as an important source of protein. And this choice has been repeatedly reproduced through generations. However, the current generation's awareness of the edible culture of dog meat has changed. The meme of pet culture has been selected and replicated, and this cultural evolution will eventually lead to the culling of dog meat.