When millions of Koreans take to the highways for Chuseok, the nation’s autumn harvest festival — returning to their ancestral hometowns to perform traditional rites and share elaborate feasts with family — they typically face three major anxieties: gridlocked traffic, probing questions from relatives and deciding what to do with the dog. For residents of Gangnam District, the popular upscale area south of the Han River, the local government may not be able to help with probing questions from relatives, but it’s stepping in to solve the canine conundrum. District officials said Friday that they will operate a free dog care shelter program during the upcoming holiday, offering up to five days of complimentary lodging for 50 eligible pups between Sept. 23 and Oct. 5. Gangnam is home to roughly 47,000 registered pets — the highest concentration of any district in Seoul. As Korea’s birthrate continues to drop, pet ownership has surged nationwide, effectively transforming furry companions into surrogate children. Yet during major holidays, when city dwellers migrate to ancestral homet
