Kim Dongon, Cheongyang County Governor: "Next Year, We Will Launch the Nation's First Free Meal Service at Senior Centers"

“Pilot Project to Launch Next Year with 2.5 Billion Won Investment”

Kim Donggon, Cheongyang County Governor

Kim Dongon, the governor of Cheongyang County in South Chungcheong Province, announced on the 24th, "For the first time in the nation, we will implement free meal services at senior centers starting next year."

During a regular briefing held at the county office's main conference room, Governor Kim stated, "On the 2nd of this month, the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Welfare of the Aged Act, which centers on providing lunch at senior centers five days a week," and added, "Accordingly, it is expected that free meal services at senior centers will be fully implemented nationwide from 2026."

The county was selected for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ Rural Agreement Project in 2022, securing a total project budget of 42.7 billion KRW by 2026.

Since the launch of the 7th popularly elected administration, Cheongyang has grown into a local government attracting nationwide attention for its top-level healthcare services, its integrated care sector certified as an age-friendly city by the WHO, and its food plan sector, which has won the grand prize in the local food index evaluation for three consecutive years.

Governor Kim said, "The core of the Rural Agreement Project is to establish a 'multi-care system' that provides various services such as healthcare, medical care, and food to residents through public-private cooperation between the county and local communities. As part of this, we will focus about 2.5 billion KRW of the already secured project budget to launch a pilot project for free meal services at senior centers starting next year."

He further explained, "In the first half of next year, we will select 10 senior centers as pilot sites to support costs for meal kits and side dishes every week, and from the second half, we plan to expand the number of sites to 50 by operating a lunchbox processing plant within the local food complex."

He added, "Although the budget is not abundant, we will connect this initiative with the Hometown Love Donation Program to ensure the 'free meal service at senior centers' proceeds smoothly without any setbacks."

Governor Kim emphasized, "I believe that creating an environment where residents suffering from low birth rates, aging, and polarization do not have to worry about a single meal is a duty that local governments must fulfill. By promoting the 'nation's first free meal service at senior centers' following our leading integrated care, food plan, and healthcare services, we will once again make Cheongyang a small but strong county whose standards become the standards for the entire nation."

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