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Universities offer students more affordable meals, with 1,000-won breakfasts and 2,000-won dinners

Published: 20 Apr. 2026, 15:41 Updated: 21 Apr. 2026, 10:13

LEE TAE-HEE
[email protected]

Kangwon National University students take food at the 2,000-won dinner program that was offered at the university in 2025. [KANGWON NATIONAL UNIVERSITY]

Inexpensive 1,000-won (70-cent) breakfasts at university cafeterias have been feeding many students at an affordable price, and some schools are also creating 2,000-won dinners to help students keep their stomachs full throughout the day.

Kangwon National University announced Monday it will offer a 2,000-won dinner at the Chuncheon Campus's Cheonjigwan Cafeteria.

The affordable dinners will be provided once a month during the semester on April 23, May 21 and June 11. For the fall semester, students will be able to have the meal on Sept. 17, Oct. 22, Nov. 19 and Dec. 10. The university also offered the 2,000-won dinners once a month in 2025, bringing them back due to popular demand.

A total of 250 Chuncheon campus students will be able to have the dinners each day, with meal tickets sold on a first-come first-served basis via the Payco application. The cafeteria dinner will come with main side dishes such as jjeyuk bokkeum (spicy stir-fried pork), bite-sized hamburger steak and jjimdak (stewed chicken).

According to the university, each meal would normally cost around 15,000 won, with the students paying for 2,000 won and the rest by the university's development foundation. Kangwon National University's alumni association also donated 21 million won for this year's 2,000-won meal project.

Kangwon National University also participates in the 1,000-won breakfast program. Students only have to pay 1,000 won for their meal, while the rest is jointly funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Gangwon government and the university.

“A university should be more than a place for students to learn, and should be a community where students can receive support in their daily lives,” said Kim Dae-hyun, dean of the Chuncheon campus's Office Student Affairs. “We will continue to provide programs that offer tangible benefits to students.”

Kangwon National University isn't the only university offering affordable dinners. Chungbuk National University is also offering dinner for 2,000 won at its Hanbit Cafeteria until Feb. 26 next year, even during vacation periods.

A total of 500 Chungbuk National University students will be able to have the meal every day, with meal tickets sold on a first-come first-served basis via the It'sMe application.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]