Initial step taken for free school meal referendum

By Kim Rahn

An alliance of 165 conservative civic groups submitted an application to Seoul City, Monday, to become a representative applicant for a residents’ referendum on the free school meal issue. The submission is the first step for the residents’ vote.

With former Konkuk University vice president Ryu Tae-young and former Korea University professor emeritus Han Seung-jo as representatives, the alliance submitted the application to hold a vote on whether to adopt free lunches for all students at primary and secondary schools.

The application comes as the Seoul Metropolitan Council, dominated by the opposition Democratic Party members, is unlikely to approve Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s request for the residents’ vote.

Without the council’s approval, the referendum can also be held if more than 5 percent of eligible voters sign up to hold the poll.

Following the application, the city government will issue a certificate in seven days to acknowledge Ryu and Han as representatives. Afterward, they will have to collect signatures from about 418,000 citizens in 180 days.

If they collect the signatures, the representatives will need to submit the list to the city 10 days later. The city will then review the list to confirm whether they are eligible voters, and announce the date of the referendum. The Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission will then govern the voting process.

The alliance said in the application, “The expenses for free meals to all students, regardless of the parents’ financial status, comes from citizens’ tax, so the service should be scrapped. We have to expand free lunches gradually from students in low-income brackets.”

One of the group members, Kim Chun-gyu from the Forum of Korea Future, said there are 12 civic groups in Seoul which have some 100,000 members, each. “If we join hands with the groups, we’ll be able to collect the necessary number of signatures in three to four months,” he said.