Neighbors hold pork party to protest mosque in Daegu

Slices of boiled pork are served by nearby residents in front of a construction site of a mosque in Daegu's Buk District to protest against the construction. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Residents in Daegu protesting the construction of a mosque held another party serving pork in front of the construction site on Thursday.

The latest comes just two months after the residents held a barbecue party in front of the Dar-ul-Emaan Kyungpook Islamic Center in protest on Dec. 15 last year.

According to the JoongAng Ilbo, the alleyway in Daegu’s Buk District was filled with people standing in line to eat beef gukbap, or soup served with rice, and pork suyuk (boiled pork slices), as an attack on Islam’s prohibition to eat pork.

The party was criticized as disrespectful to Muslims, but the committee rejected the criticism, saying “it was their culture to share pork dishes with others.”

“Since when did we need to explain why we are hosting a gathering with neighbors?” the committee's vice chairman said.

“The residents here just want to live a peaceful and normal life.”

Muaz Razaq, a PhD student at Kyungpook University, pointed out that such behavior could be seen as Islamophobia.

On social media, he asked if it would also be Korean culture to hold parties involving drinking or other taboo behavior in front of Buddhist temples or Christian churches.

The controversy goes back to September 2020 when the Buk District Office allowed a group of Muslims to build a mosque in a residential neighborhood near Kyungpook National University in Daegu, a conservative stronghold located about 240 kilometers (149 miles) southeast of Seoul. The mosque was planned as a two-story construction.

Construction went smoothly until February 2021 — when the building started to look like a mosque.

Residents filed a string of complaints with the Buk District Office, leading the district office to halt construction.

The case went to court, and after a long legal battle, the Supreme Court finally ruled against the residents last September.

Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, residents continued protesting against the construction.

The lingering conflict led the Buk District Office to suggest that the office purchase the land surrounding the mosque.

The district office had ealier asked if the mosque could be built elsewhere, but the clients of the construction refused.

Residents criticized the district office’s suggestion.

“The purchase of land near the mosque construction site takes away the homes of Koreans to protect foreigners,” a member of the committee said during a press briefing on Thursday morning in front of the Buk District Office.

"We condemn the head of the district office for stealing residents' homes by building facilities for foreigners."

BY KIM JUNG-SEOK, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]