1,000-WON MEALS CONTINUE TO HELP NEEDY

[Anchor Lead]

With high inflation, it's not difficult to see a single meal costing more than 10,000 won these days. But despite the sluggish economy, there's a restaurant that offers a full Lunch-meal with just 1,000 won. Let's go take a look at this restaurant that offers heart-warming love despite difficult times.

[Pkg]

People stream into a restaurant as soon as it opens. Customers who braved the freezing winds to come to the restaurant are welcomed with warm soup, rice and assorted side dishes. They pay only one thousand won for this filling meal.

[Soundbite] Park Hee-ja(Cheongju resident) : "I usually have bread, an apple or a tangerine for lunch. But I get a hearty meal here for only 1,000 won."

Since a meal costs only that much, the restaurant's daily revenue barely reaches 100,000 won. That is hardly enough to pay for ingredients and labor. The recent inflation has made the situation more difficult for the restaurant. But it is getting by with the help from neighbors. Benefactors donate food items like rice, fruits and vegetables, and volunteers do the cooking. This restaurant, which provides these meals to as many as one hundred people a day, first opened in Busan in 2009. The kindness of people willing to help the needy spread across the country and increased the number of such restaurants to eighteen in around 10 years.

[Soundbite] Shin Jin-ah(Cheongju 1,000-won Restaurant manager) : "We get a lot of donations. I’m glad to see so many kindhearted people. There are clearly many reasons to love this world."

Times are tough for many due to inflation and stagnant income. The 1,000-won lunch is a precious gift to the needy who worry about having enough to eat in the midst of the freezing cold.