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Local governments are supporting children's meal cards so that there are no children who cannot eat during the vacation period when there is no school lunch.

With that card, students can spend up to 7,000 won per meal.



This content was covered by reporter Jeong Da-eun.



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High school student Lee Mo visits a convenience store almost every day.



It's for a meal.



A child meal card issued by the local government can be used up to 7,000 won per meal.



[Lee Moyang / Missing Children: It is the cheapest and there are many things to eat, so I think I go to convenience stores a lot.

Frozen food or lunch boxes.]



As the price of eating out has risen sharply, it is difficult to find food that costs 7,000 won in most restaurants.



[Lee Moyang / Missing Child: I don't think I go to restaurants very often.

It's all over 10,000 won, so...

.

(Looking at the price tag) I think it came out right away if it was over 10,000 won.]



Even if it is difficult to find a cheap restaurant, there are many places that do not accept a meal card.



[Mr. Han/Parent of a malnourished child: I went there knowing it was a franchise, but there were cases where I couldn't use the card at that house because I didn't renew the contract with the franchise.

(On the website) there is no update, so you have to call and go.] The



list of food service card merchants is not well updated, so you can't trust them.



This is the website where the meal card merchants are listed.



The website says that there is a bakery where you can use a meal card, but when I actually visited, there was only an ice cream shop.



In the end, children will only go to convenience stores that are easy to find.



[Hwang Hye-na / Green Umbrella Children's Foundation Social Worker: (at a convenience store) It's difficult to eat a diet with balanced nutrients.

Wouldn't it lead to nutritional imbalance, leading to a decrease in children's physical function.]



Different subsidies for each municipality are also a problem.



The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to raise the unit price of meal card support to 8,000 won by the end of the year to reflect the price increase, but some local governments in non-metropolitan areas are staying at 6,000 won, lower than the government's 7,000 won recommendation.



There are 290,000 children who are starving nationwide.



There is also an opinion that government subsidy should be considered for the provision of meals for undernourished children, a regional transfer project.



(Video editing: Choi Hye-young, VJ: Shin So-young)