In South Korea, bullfighting is left to the bulls, with no matadors or red capes involved.
Korean Hanwoo bulls, which weigh 600 kg to over 800 kg, clash in a sandy bullring in the rural town of Cheongdo, about two hours from the South Korean capital of Seoul.
Events like the annual Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival, April 18-22, keep the 1000-year entertainment tradition alive as it nearly died out due to national industrialisation.
According to the event organisers, Cheongdo bullfights are more humane than those in Spain because the bull is not killed by a matador.
"Spain's bullfight is between man and bull and assumes that men will defeat bulls," said Lee Joong Geun, county executive of Cheongdo. "But Cheongdo's bullfighting is an energetic fight between two bulls."
96 bulls compete for the strongest bull title, which comes with a prize of 7 million.
