▲ President Lee Jae-myung and First Lady Kim Hye-kyung visit a Geunyang Dream business site at the Chungju Health and Welfare Town in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, in February, where they speak with officials about operational status.
The Geunyang Dream program, which provides food and daily necessities to vulnerable groups without requiring income verification procedures, is expanding nationwide this month.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 6th that 55 cities, counties, and districts currently not participating in the Geunyang Dream program—including Ulleung-gun in North Gyeongsang Province—will sequentially launch the program this month.
Launched in December of last year across 57 locations nationwide, the Geunyang Dream program has provided support to 210,000 people to date.
Among them, approximately 44,700 people received welfare counseling, and about 4,400 individuals were connected to institutional protection systems such as basic livelihood security and emergency welfare support.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare is also fully implementing the "Visiting Geunyang Dream" service for elderly people with limited mobility, individuals with disabilities, and residents of remote island and mountain areas.
The initiative will be operated in various forms, including the "Township/Neighborhood Welfare-Linked Type" where local administrative welfare teams tour villages by vehicle to deliver goods and provide counseling, the "Local Resource-Linked Type" where volunteers deliver goods through local private networks, and the "Public Institution-Cooperative Type" where postal workers deliver goods to Geunyang Dream applicants.
Private sector participation, resonating with the purpose of the project, is also steadily increasing.
Following Shinhan Financial Group's pledge to provide a total of 10 billion won by 2027, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Lotte Corporation, and Korea Fruit Corporation have also lent their support, bringing cumulative private donations to 13.5 billion won.
Detailed information such as the locations and operating hours of regional Geunyang Dream corners can be found by searching for "Geunyang Dream" on portal sites, or by visiting the websites of the Ministry of Health and Welfare or the National Food Bank.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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