Neighbours of the planned mosque near Kyungpook National University say the pork barbecues are cultural. Human rights groups call the displays hate speech, and it is unclear when the latest clip was filmed.
Residents of Daegu, South Korea, have staged pork barbecues outside a planned mosque, including a whole-pig roast shown on KBS news. Pork is forbidden under Islamic dietary rules. They have opposed the project near Kyungpook National University since permits were issued in 2020, citing noise, traffic, smells and changes to the neighbourhood. The footage has since spread online. Human rights groups call the displays hate speech, while residents defend them as cultural preservation.
The dispute
Residents say the mosque would disrupt their neighbourhood. Earlier protests included placing pig heads at the entrance. A 2022 Supreme Court ruling allowed construction to go ahead. In September 2026, the authorities offered to relocate the mosque, and the Muslim community accepted the offer. Residents defend the barbecues as a way of preserving their culture, and argue the issue sits against a backdrop of low fertility rates and debate over immigration.
The clip was shared by figures including the British activist Tommy Robinson, who described it as a patriotic party, according to the source. The research notes could not confirm that he attended any demonstration in Daegu.
Is the footage new?
The research notes found a whole-pig roast outside the site as far back as 15 December 2022, reported by Yonhap. A professional barbecue firm roasted a pig of about 50kg, enough for 40 to 50 adults, after a residents’ news conference. Daegu MBC reported another event on 2 February 2023, at which protesters served 100 portions of boiled pork and 100 bowls of beef-and-rice soup. The notes could confirm the historical footage but not that the KBS clip circulating on 23 October 2026 shows a newly organised event, or that a fresh barbecue followed the September relocation announcement.
The Korea JoongAng Daily reported in 2023 that a deputy chairman of the residents’ committee said sharing pork with neighbours was part of their culture and asked why residents should have to explain their gatherings. Muslim students said holding such events outside a mosque was deliberately provocative. In March 2023, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea described using pork to ridicule Islamic practices outside the mosque as hostility towards a religious minority, and urged local and national authorities to respond to discrimination. The US State Department’s 2023 International Religious Freedom Report also recorded the dispute.
The relocation plan
According to Kyunghyang Shinmun, Daegu’s Buk District estimates relocation could cost between 1.8bn and 1.9bn won, about £1m. The proposed site is the former Daehyeon police station, a state-owned building managed by the Korea Asset Management Corporation. The district’s budget allows as much as 1bn won to buy it, though its official valuation is about 400m won. The three-storey building has a floor area of 163.5 square metres, against 245.14 square metres for the planned mosque and existing prayer house combined, about a third less. The Muslim community warned that it might not hold around 50 worshippers, a concern it raised when conditionally accepting the offer. Some residents backed the plan because the building is on a main road.
Yonhap reported that the district needs to include the purchase in its 2027 budget, and that missing the deadline could delay relocation by at least a year. News1 reports officials hope to buy the property in the first half of 2027 and exchange properties in the second half. That is the district’s proposed timetable, not a confirmed agreement. It has not been established that the budget has been approved or the exchange completed.
Other developments
- Prosecutors cleared two residents in December 2023 over pig-head displays, finding that the displays had not stopped workers completing scheduled tasks, according to News1. Anti-discrimination groups argued they could still amount to religious hostility.
- Buk District filed a criminal complaint against the mosque’s construction company over suspected building-law breaches, including missing stud bolts in steel beams, which led to a fresh stop-work order, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported. The issue is separate from the religious dispute.
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that weekly anti-Islam gatherings began outside the university’s north gate on 15 June 2026, with banners criticising Muslim culture. They are separate from the pork protests.
