"Just Rice Mixed with Water Served" Controversy Over 'Poor Meals' at Some Jeju Daycare Centers... Parents Express Outrage

Equality Childcare Union Reveals Photos of Substandard Meals
"Is This the Daycare Our Children Attend?" Growing Anxiety
Parents Demand "Disclosure of the Daycare and Stronger Punishments"
Union Plans to Operate Reporting Center for Daycare Meal Issues

The Jeju Equal Childcare Labor Union, composed of childcare teachers from daycare centers in the Jeju area, held a press conference in front of Jeju Provincial Office on the 22nd, exposing issues with both the quantity and quality of meals at some daycare centers. The photo shows lunch provided at a daycare center in Jeju City. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] Amid allegations that substandard and poor-quality meals are being provided at some daycare centers in the Jeju area, parents are expressing their outrage through various online communities and mom cafes. In particular, there are criticisms that the quantity of meals is insufficient and that side dishes are almost nonexistent, indicating poor quality.

The Jeju Equal Childcare Labor Union, composed of daycare teachers in the Jeju area, held a press conference in front of Jeju Provincial Government Office on the 22nd to expose the reality of substandard and poor-quality meals at daycare centers in Jeju.

At the scene, current and former daycare teachers directly revealed photos of the poor meal conditions and urged for a thorough investigation and countermeasures at the Jeju provincial level.

The union stated, "The government began hygiene inspections earlier this month on nationwide kindergartens and daycare center cafeterias, and currently, extensive hygiene inspections are also being conducted at daycare centers in Jeju. However, there are already rumors that the Jeju childcare administration’s full-scale investigation is merely a show inspection."

The union claimed that some daycare centers are preparing documents that differ from the actual meals provided all at once to prepare for the inspection. They also said that food ingredients previously given to children are being hidden, and large-scale cleaning of the kitchen is being carried out to cover up poor hygiene conditions.

Photos released by the union that day showed trays containing only a few spoonfuls of rice, a small piece of tofu in soup, some fish meat, and a little cubed radish kimchi (kkakdugi).

In particular, the union revealed that one daycare center in Jeju city serves children only soup or rice soaked in water without any side dishes throughout the entire year except on inspection days.

Following the exposure of substandard meals at daycare centers, parents, especially on local mom cafes, expressed their outrage, saying things like, "How can they feed children such meals?" and "I paid money but only water and rice are served; I can't believe it."

One parent said, "Playing with the food that children eat deserves divine punishment," adding, "As a parent, I am very angry. Reveal the daycare center involved and strongly punish them so this never happens again."

Another parent expressed concern, saying, "I worry whether the daycare my child attends is like this," and added, "I heard many places have meal plans that differ from the actual meals. I'm considering asking the kids to take photos of their meals. How can we trust and leave our children there?"

Kim Hoyoung, head of the Public Transport Union Childcare Branch Corruption Reporting Center, appeared on CBS's 'Kim Hyunjung's News Show' and said, "These kinds of incidents (substandard daycare meals) happen routinely," and added, "When such incidents occur, the subsequent resolution process is often poorly handled, leading to a lot of frustration."

Kim stated, "In October 2018, the center conducted a survey to eradicate corruption in daycare centers, receiving about 228 reports from daycare teachers in just one day," and said, "Among respondents, 71.9% reported witnessing or directly experiencing suspicious circumstances related to meal corruption such as food ingredient purchases."

He further pointed out, "It is common for the quality of food to decline and the quantity to be very small," and added, "Recently, to hide the poor meal conditions, daycare centers even upload fake photos. Nowadays, they take two versions of photos: one with an appropriate amount shown to parents, and another of the actual meal tray served."

Meanwhile, the union plans to operate a reporting center for substandard and poor-quality meals to monitor and improve daycare facility operations related to meals.

The center will operate by receiving direct reports from about 4,000 childcare workers at approximately 500 daycare centers in the Jeju area.

The union said, "We have repeatedly requested meetings with the provincial health authorities to discuss countermeasures regarding substandard and poor-quality meals, but the health authorities have not responded," and added, "Going forward, we will receive direct reports of substandard and poor-quality meal cases from frontline workers, disclose them again through press conferences, and report them to the health authorities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.