From May 8, KAIST initiated the “1,000-won Meal” project, where students only need to pay 1,000 KRW for breakfast provided at KAIMARU (N11). The lower-priced meal is only available from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. This is in line with recent trends at universities, such as Korea University and Seoul National University, to provide cheaper meals, namely “1,000-won Meal” projects. A limited provision of meals at cheaper prices is made possible through funds of alumni or the government. Since the initiation of the project, KAIMARU has been crowded with an estimated 200 students every morning.
Breakfast at KAIMARU had been provided at 3,500 KRW. With the help of government funds of 1,000 KRW and school funds of 1,500 KRW per meal, students now only have to pay 1,000 KRW. While it was originally planned to continue until late November, the project is expected to end early around July as approximately 200 students had breakfast on the first day, which is greater than the expectation. This project aims to provide support to around 8000 students for the entire duration of the project.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of Korea and the Korea Agency of Education, Promotion and Information Service in Food, Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (EPIS) have initially selected 41 universities to provide support to approximately 690,000 students in total. Earning media attention and praise from citizens, it expanded its project to 145 universities for 1,500,000 students, with KAIST being one of them.
The motive behind the funding and the initiation of the “1,000-won Meal” project is to foster a healthy lifestyle of students. The rising cost of living, which was accelerated due to the prolonged pandemic, has forced many students to skip their meals. By lowering the price of breakfasts, the project aims to financially support the students and encourage them to adopt a healthy habit of having breakfast.
The KAIST Customer Management Team revealed that the procedure of receiving funds from the government is not simple. Signing contracts, attending conferences, and submitting reports is a complex process. However, the team is proud to see many students in the cafeteria every morning starting their day with a hearty breakfast.