KT Develops 'Seonhan Yeonghyang Gage' App to Support Meals for Food-Insecure Children

KT announced on the 23rd that it has signed a "Business Agreement for Meal Support for Food-Insecure Children" with Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage and is promoting the development of the "Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage Finder App."

Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage is a group of self-employed business owners voluntarily participating in a movement with the goal of "helping children." Self-employed business owners participating in Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage provide free food or services to food-insecure children who possess meal cards. It began in June 2019 when CEO Oh In-tae of "Jinjja Pasta" in Mapo-gu, Seoul, pledged to provide pasta free of charge to food-insecure children. As the story became known, the organization has grown to have over 3,800 member companies nationwide.

(From left) Kim Young-in, Executive Director of KT Gangnam West NW Operations Headquarters, and Oh In-tae, Chairman of the Good Influence Store, signing a business agreement and taking a commemorative photo
[Photo by KT]

CEO Oh, who serves as the chairman of Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage, expressed regret that while warm-hearted self-employed business owners reaching out to children from financially difficult families have greatly increased, there are not many food-insecure children seeking out member companies.

KT shared the concerns of Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage and stepped up to solve the problem. In particular, they focused on the fact that food-insecure children do not know where Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage locations are. Accordingly, KT employees belonging to the development organization decided to donate their talents to develop the "Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage Finder App." The app is scheduled to be launched next month.

KT employees plan to first develop the "Find Store Location" and "1:1 Consultation" features so that food-insecure children can easily find Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage through the app. In the future, they also plan to develop a feature that allows food-insecure children to order food through the app. KT and Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage have agreed to cooperate in developing features that can help participating self-employed business owners.

Oh In-tae, chairman of Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage, said, "The movement that started to simply provide a meal to food-insecure children is now approaching its fifth year. I want to continue the Seonhan Yeonghyangryeokgage movement together with responsible self-employed business owners."

Jung Jeong-su, Executive Director of KT Gangnam West Metropolitan Headquarters, said, "It is even more meaningful to support children who need to grow together in the digital society through the talent donation of employees. We will continue to take the lead in ESG activities to fulfill corporate social responsibility."