'Cheonwon's Breakfast' Support Target 2.34 Million People... Increased 3.5 Times from Original Plan

104 Universities Selected in Second Recruitment... Executable Through General Financial Support Project
Some Local Governments Establish Their Own Support Plans

The government will increase the number of beneficiaries for the '1,000 Won Breakfast' program, which allows university students to have breakfast priced between 3,500 and 5,000 won at student cafeterias for just 1,000 won, by 3.5 times to support 2.34 million people. Local governments and the Ministry of Education will also participate to secure the budget.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 7th that it has newly selected 104 universities as a result of the second additional recruitment for universities participating in the 1,000 Won Breakfast program. Accordingly, 2.34 million students from 145 universities will be able to have breakfast at their schools for 1,000 won.

The 1,000 Won Breakfast program requires students to pay 1,000 won, with the government providing 1,000 won and the schools supporting between 1,500 and 3,000 won. Initially, 41 schools (690,000 students) were supported this year. As demand from universities and students increased, the government announced plans to expand support to 1.5 million people and recruited new participating universities. At the subsequent 'Rice Supply Stability-related Civil-Government-Party Consultative Meeting,' it was decided to expand the program to all universities wishing to participate. A Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs official explained, "104 universities nationwide applied newly, and after reviewing the submitted documents, no universities were disqualified, so all were selected." The number of meal recipients increased beyond the original plan due to the selection of all newly applying universities.

Including the 41 universities already participating, the final 145 selected universities will provide the 1,000 Won Breakfast according to their submitted operation plans until the program concludes at the end of November.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs also established a cooperative system with local governments to expand university support. After consultations with 15 city and provincial local governments, the program guidelines were revised to allow local governments to provide additional support to participating universities. A ministry official stated, "Some local governments are independently planning additional support."

Following additional support from local governments, the Ministry of Education will also join in supporting the program. Vice Minister Jang Sang-yoon of the Ministry of Education said, "Starting this year, the Ministry of Education has relaxed regulations on the execution standards of general financial support projects, allowing universities selected for the 1,000 Won Breakfast program among those eligible for general financial support projects to use general financial support funds for this program."

Through the "1,000 Won Breakfast" program, Korea University student cafeterias provide breakfast to enrolled students for 1,000 won. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

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