Gyeonggi Province Introduces Korea's First '1,000 Won Convenience Store' for University Students

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] A convenience store where university students struggling with living expenses in an era of high prices can purchase daily necessities and food items at discounts of over 90% compared to market prices will make its debut this second half at Gachon University and Paichai University on a pilot basis. Gyeonggi Province plans to bundle 3 to 5 items into a single package and sell it for 1,000 won.

On the 9th, the province signed a business agreement with NH Nonghyup Bank Gyeonggi Headquarters, Gyeonggi Province Social Welfare Council, Gyeonggi Community Chest of Korea, Gachon University, and Paichai University at Gyeonggi Province Government Office to operate the ‘University Student 1,000 Won Convenience Store’ and pledged cooperation with the goal of official opening in the second half of this year.

The ‘University Student 1,000 Won Convenience Store’ was planned to ease the living expense burden on university students and realize social value by connecting local resources. The budget required for the project will be entirely funded by donations from NH Nonghyup Bank Gyeonggi Headquarters, with student autonomous organizations such as the general student council taking charge of planning and operations.

The convenience store's products will be composed based on a preliminary preference survey of students at each school, with food items such as instant rice, canned tuna, and seasoned seaweed as well as daily necessities like shampoo and cleansing foam expected to form the main offerings. Use of the convenience store will require authentication procedures such as scanning a student ID card from the respective school.

Vice Governor of Economy Ko Young-in said, “The 1,000 won convenience store is Korea's first case of creating social value by connecting local resources within a university campus and represents the first step toward realizing student-led social value and solidarity,” adding, “We will continue to discover new ways to solve social problems going forward.”

The ‘University Student 1,000 Won Convenience Store’ is particularly significant as it is the first tangible result of the ‘Social Innovation Platform’ that Gyeonggi Province has been operating since March.

The ‘Social Innovation Platform’ is a ‘resident-participatory policy promotion model’ designed to address various social issues such as climate and environmental change, demographic structure changes, care issues, and regional revitalization in creative and innovative ways. When residents, social economy organizations, and companies seeking ESG cooperation propose social innovation ideas, the province develops them into policies and projects, and evaluates social performance such as social value regarding implementation results.

The ‘Social Innovation Promotion Task Force’ headed by Vice Governor Ko Young-in and overseen by the Social Innovation Economy Bureau manages the social innovation platform and is equipped with implementation capabilities in connection with the Gyeonggi Province Social Economy Institute.

At its first meeting in March, the ‘Social Innovation Platform’ also discussed solutions to address the problem of university students' food expense burden in an era of high prices, and the ‘University Student 1,000 Won Convenience Store’ was the solution decided at that meeting.

Meanwhile, those who attended the agreement ceremony included Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor of Economy Ko Young-in, NH Nonghyup Bank Gyeonggi Headquarters Director Kim Sung-rok, Gyeonggi Province Social Welfare Council Chairman Kang Ki-tae, Gyeonggi Community Chest of Korea Chairman Kwon In-uk, Gachon University Vice President Yun Won-jung, General Student Council Emergency Countermeasures Committee Chairman Kim Min-sung, Paichai University President Lee Dong-hyun, and General Student Council Emergency Countermeasures Committee Chairman Shin Yu-sung.