'Moon Tori' basks in glory as ROK 'first dog'

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday welcomed a rescue dog to his official Blue House residence, delivering on a campaign promise to boost awareness of the fast-growing numbers of abandoned animals accompanying a surge in pet ownership.

Tori, a 4-year-old black mixed breed, becomes the first shelter dog to attain the title of first dog, joining Moon's two other pets, a 10-year-old Korean-breed Pungsan dog called Maru and a former stray cat, Jjing-jing.

"As a society, we need to pay more attention to abandoned animals and care for them," Moon told animal rights advocates at the welcome ceremony, his office said, adding that as many as 300,000 animals had been abandoned.