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By Kim Ji-soo
When the news of expanding the "1,000 won breakfast" offer at colleges rode the airwaves recently, a memory flashed back to me from 1987. As a freshman in college in Seoul, the chance to eat out at affordably priced canteens and eateries outside was a newfound joy.
There however was a "sundubu jjigae" (spicy soft tofu stew) restaurant outside the main gate, which remains etched in my mind as if by a laser beam. A bowl of the tofu stew with rice and kimchi, the simplest type, cost 1,000 won ($0.77). I remember thinking, all that for this price? Admittedly after hunting down several alma maters, the price of sundubu seemed to vary from 1,000 won to 1,500 won.
Yet the lucidity of that memory of gawking at the price, then at the stew's hearty taste and feeling a sheepish thankfulness for a "student discount" still lingers.
As of 2023, a total of 41 universities in the nation are offering the cheap breakfasts. The gist of the scheme is that the government chips in 1,000 won and the school 1,000 won. One freshman at Sungkyunkwan University who lives on her own in Seoul said she often goes for the breakfast.
"It opens early at 8 a.m., and through 9 a.m., and for me, this surely helps. I hope it continues," the freshman said on condition of anonymity.
The menu is mainly rice and soup with three side dishes and would cost around 4,500 won normally. There are other options, a sandwich or "cup-bap."
The idea has grown in popularity ― mainly because of the skyrocketing living costs ― among users but also politically. Having started small, university by university in 2012, the plan was also to encourage young students to eat breakfast and promote the consumption of rice. The government with its funding joined in 1997.
The student discount is commendable. Lunch at Korean public schools from elementary to high schools are free, thus the line of thought may continue into the 1,000 won breakfasts for collegians. Collegians may also be more likely to skip meals if they are financially constrained with money required for higher tuition fees, books and whatnot.
Political parties have caught on quickly, clamoring to say the scheme should be expanded. Both the ruling People Power Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Korea are eager to uphold the breakfast scheme and champion it as their respective feats. All the more so after the government and the ruling party agreed in March to double the budget and increase the number of participating schools. The collegians are voters, and there is a general election scheduled for next year.
However, coffers at many Korean universities are dwindling due to declining enrollment in the aging Korean society. The operators of school canteens are reportedly moving to pull out of the college canteens business for its small profit. Some school officials are hoping that government assistance would jump; even colleges with generous donations from graduates seek it. Pundits have cautioned about the financial sustainability of the government assistance in the long haul.
The?Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it plans to expand the scale of assistance, with the budget increasing from 780 million won to 1.58 billion won. That means 1.5 million students ― from the current 690,000 students ― will become beneficiaries.
Just like the anonymous freshman quoted above, 98 percent of university students who responded to a 2022 ministry survey expressed hope that the 1,000 won breakfast policy would continue. The task falls on all of us to juggle respective interests to ensure future leaders of society are well-nourished while schools, canteen operators also carry on sustainably.
The writer is a member of the Editorial Board at The Korea Times.
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