Baek Jong-won 'Surprised' by Firefighter's 'Meal Cost 4000 Won'... There Was Also 3000 Won

Daegu·Gyeongnam... Meal Cost Less Than 4,000 Won
Some Places Without Any Nutritionist Assigned
"Unified Meal System Needs Review"

The meal cost per firefighter has been revealed, sparking controversy. It was found that some fire stations have a meal cost of just over 3,000 won per meal.

Baek Jong-won, who was trying to cook for the firefighters, asked, "Is the support fund not much?" The nutritionist replied, "It is fixed at 4,000 won per meal. There is no additional support fund," which surprised everyone and was shown on the broadcast.
[Photo by tvN 'Baekpacker 2']

According to data submitted by the Fire Agency to Han Byung-do, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party, the cost per meal at Daegu A Fire Station was only 3,112 won. This is the lowest meal cost among fire stations nationwide. Following that were Gyeongnam B Fire Station at 3,852 won and Jeonbuk C Fire Station at 3,920 won. Additionally, Jeonnam D Fire Station, Gangwon E Fire Station, Ulsan F Fire Station, and Seoul G Fire Station had meal costs in the 4,000 won range.

Baek Jong-won, who was trying to cook for the firefighters, asked, "Is the support fund very low?" The nutritionist replied, "It is fixed at 4,000 won per meal. There is no additional support fund," which surprised everyone and was shown on the broadcast.
[Photo by tvN 'Baekpacker 2']

This is the result of a sample survey conducted by the Fire Agency on one fire station per region out of 241 fire stations nationwide, showing that the cost is even lower than convenience store lunch boxes, which typically cost around 4,000 won. It is also far lower compared to the free meal cost at Seoul public high schools (5,398 won) or the meal cost for children at risk of food insecurity in Seoul (9,000 won).

The meal cost varied by more than double depending on the fire station. The highest meal cost in this survey was at Incheon D Fire Station, at 6,887 won. The reason for the wide variation in meal costs by region is analyzed to be due to differing bases for budget support for firefighter meals by city and province.

Also, within the fixed meal allowance for public officials (140,000 won), general administrative officials are based on 20 meals per month (two meals per day), whereas field workers (3-shift workers) are based on 30 meals per month (three meals per day), which significantly lowers the cost per meal.

Firefighters being deployed to the scene.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

There were also places where no nutritionists were assigned at all. In fire stations in the Jeonnam region, there were no nutritionists, and in fire stations in Jeonbuk, Gyeongbuk, and Jeju regions, there was only one nutritionist.

Assemblyman Han said, "A firefighter's meal is the 'power to save the people,' and it is now time to end poor-quality meals that undermine firefighting capabilities." He added, "The Fire Agency needs to consider starting discussions with the Ministry of Personnel Management to increase the fixed meal allowance for field workers, conduct a full survey of meal systems by city and province, and promote unification of the meal system through ordinance enactment."

Meanwhile, in June, Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, also pointed out the poor conditions of firefighters' meals. Baek Jong-won visited Hwaseong Fire Station in Gyeonggi Province on the tvN variety show ‘Baekpacker 2’ to serve a nourishing meal. Before starting cooking, he inspected the kitchen facilities and existing menu and said, "It is too poor for firefighters who have high activity levels to eat." When Baek Jong-won asked the nutritionist, "Is the support fund very limited?" the nutritionist replied, "It is fixed at 4,000 won per meal. There is no additional support fund."