Although South Korea is not in a crisis of extreme poverty, with an ever-increasing ageing population and an uneven social welfare system, the female-founded NanumVitamin has created an online platform where small businesses and consumers can help connect, share, and fund warm meals for children to help tackle poverty and undernourishment in South Korea. Naviyam’s app grants children access to free or low-cost meals from local businesses, allowing more people to have a burden-free bowl of warm rice every day.

Poverty in South Korea

As of the latest reports from 2021, South Korea has a very low rate of extreme poverty, measured as living on less than $3 a day, at 0.1% of the general population. However, considering the relative poverty rate, the picture is slightly different. The relative poverty rate is 15.1%, which means 15.1% of households in South Korea receive 50% or less than the average household income across South Korea. Although this rate has been decreasing gradually since 2011, there is clear room for improvement.

Ageing Population

South Korea’s picture of poverty becomes even more interesting when looking at demographics within the relative poverty rate. The relative poverty rate jumps from 15.1% of the general population to 39.3% for those over 66 and retired; this is the highest rate for any country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which promotes free market and trade policies, according to the 2023 SDG report.

In large, this is because the population of South Korea also happens to be ageing faster than any other OECD country. These statistics also reveal the uneven distribution of social protection and welfare systems in South Korea across the course of one’s life. While working-age households receive income stabilization, transitioning into retirement is a shift away from security and into economic precarity.

Children, Poverty, and Undernourishment in South Korea

Looking at the age category for children (under 18 years of age), the relative poverty rate is 9.9%, according to the 2023 SDG report. While this statistic appears much better than that for the over-66 age group, when looking closer at factors of multidimensional poverty, the situation remains concerning, especially when looking at eliminating poverty by 2030 in accordance with the U.N. SDG.

A 2018 survey revealed that 19% of children did not have access to fruits daily, 16% of children did not have access to meat, fish, or vegetables at least once a day, and 12% of children in South Korea did not have three meals a day. In 2020, 18.9% of the population was considered to be undernourished, meaning that their energy intake was less than 75% of the required amount, as well as deficiencies in key vitamins and mineral intake, such as calcium, iron, and vitamin A.

These revelations reveal that looking at income is not enough to ensure that households have access to balanced nutrition, which can, of course, exacerbate health problems, leading to further social and financial stress for the household.

NanumVitamin and Naviyam

In 2023, Hayeon Kim decided to tackle these issues of poverty and undernourishment in South Korea and founded NanumVitamin, a warm meal sharing platform that helps to ensure that children in South Korea have access to balanced meals for free or low cost. The platform itself functions as a social support network. It helps to connect children from low-income households who are concerned about skipping meals with local stores where they can use digital vouchers to access warm, nutritious meals for free or at a heavily discounted price.

NanumVitamin works in conjunction with local governments, businesses and companies such as Woowa Brothers, a large domestic food-delivery service, to provide these services. Similarly, other consumers of the app can help to cover meals for children on the app. Businesses that work to provide these free or low-cost meals also benefit from their work by being marketed as a ‘good small business owner’ by Naviyam. They also continue their social impact through organising campaigns that deliver lunch boxes to ensure sufficient nourishment for those children in poverty.

Named as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 for social impact, Hayeon Kim and her technology-focused business have helped more than 30,000 people access warm meals with dignity across 60,000 local stores, cafes and businesses, helping also to improve both the physical and mental health of the beneficiaries.

Looking Ahead

NanumVitamin and Naviyam’s meal-sharing platform, which helps to tackle poverty and undernourishment in South Korea, offers an interesting system and strategy using technology and apps that hold great potential to help tackle several other Sustainable Development Goals across the globe.

– Stephanie Gable

Stephanie is based in Wales, UK and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr