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Korea Herald
24-05-2025
- General
- Korea Herald
What are robot chefs cooking up for Korea's struggling school kitchens?
Much-praised, much-loved Korean school meals wear out workers. Can automation be a fix? At a middle school in Daejeon on April 7, a special lunch menu, including rice with seaweed soup and a slice of cake, was served to celebrate the birthdays of students born that month. But students were left disappointed when they looked down at their lunch trays -- the seaweed soup had no seaweed. 'I didn't mind too much because there were other side dishes. Still, it felt odd not having seaweed soup in the birthday lunch. You know, it's kind of a tradition in Korea,' said the seventh grader, who wished to remain anonymous. Behind the missing seaweed was a dispute between the school and cafeteria workers. The kitchen staff decided to leave the seaweed out entirely after the school's nutritionist failed to supply it already cut that day, school officials said. At first glance, the incident might seem like an overreaction to a minor workplace misunderstanding. But when you consider that just eight workers are responsible for preparing meals for 890 students every school day, uncut seaweed is anything but trivial. Similar disputes have arisen in the past at the school over labor-intensive dishes, such as those requiring large quantities of eggs to be cracked, or grapes that need to be washed before serving. Hell's kitchen Preparing school lunches in South Korea is highly labor-intensive, as the meals often resemble home-cooked dishes. A typical lunch includes rice, soup and two to three side dishes, all made from fresh ingredients such as meat and vegetables. Even a single dish can involve numerous steps and techniques — including soaking, shredding, trimming, blanching, pan-frying and seasoning — often requiring staff to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously. Many schools also serve fresh fruit, some of which require thorough washing before being served. All of this must be completed under strict time constraints to meet scheduled lunch periods, followed by the equally demanding task of cleaning up and preparing for the next day's meal. This high-pressure environment has exposed serious structural vulnerabilities in school kitchen operations nationwide. Schools with large student populations face chronic staffing shortages due to the demanding workload, which shifts the strain to the remaining workers and heightens the risk of injuries. Last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education aimed to hire 213 cafeteria workers for schools in the Gangnam and Songpa districts, but received only 28 applications. School kitchen workers say inadequate compensation for their physically demanding and hazardous work is a key factor in their chronic staffing shortages, high turnover and strikes — all of which destabilize meal services. At one elementary school in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, a cafeteria workers' strike left students with only plain white rice and dried seaweed for lunch. 'School lunches weren't provided for about two weeks. At first, they gave the students substitutes like bread, milk and fruit, but the menu worsened over time,' Seon, a 38-year-old mother whose son is in the second grade, told The Korea Herald. 'As the same meals kept repeating, some moms pooled money to order sandwiches and other food. When the strike lasted longer than expected, we had no choice but to pack lunches ourselves,' she added. The issue is not confined to schools. In South Korea, communal meal services, or "geupsik," are a deeply embedded part of daily life, extending beyond schools to military barracks, where able-bodied men are typically required to serve for at least 18 months, and to the workplace. These catering services are common in public libraries, in government offices and at large construction sites. In search of a breakthrough, South Korea is placing its hopes on advances in cooking robotics. While still in the trial phase, some schools have begun using machines to handle specific tasks and ease the burden on human staff. At Soonggok Middle School in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, four cooking robots have handled frying, stir-frying and preparing soups and stews since 2023. The city of Incheon has recently announced plans to invest over 700 million won ($504,000) to install cooking robot systems at three schools: Nonhyeon Middle School, Bugwang High School and Garim High School. Where there is potential demand, businesses are investing. Today's cooking robots can do far more than just basic frying or boiling. At the annual Food Service Fair that was held in Seoul from late April to early May, an advanced automated stirrer showcased the use of camera-based imaging technology to precisely monitor surface temperatures and the cooking status of ingredients, automatically adjusting the heat when needed. Developed by local foodtech startup People's League, the automatic stirrer follows recipes that users have programmed into the system and automatically stops when a person approaches based on its built-in lidar sensor that uses laser light to measure the distance to nearby objects. More than 300 companies from various sectors, including food, ingredients and automation, participated in the exhibition, introducing their products to professionals in the food service and dining industries, from school nutritionists to franchise operators. At one of the demonstration booths in the automation equipment section, a robot arm lifted a container from a rack and carried it to a fryer. It heated the oil automatically and cooked the food based on temperature and time settings preprogrammed on a display screen. The frying robot, built by robotics startup itcobot, finished the process by shaking the container -- like a flick of the wrist -- to remove excess oil. Some local experts are optimistic about the role of kitchen automation in improving worker safety. 'Mass catering is, by its nature, physically demanding work, and increasing wages alone isn't enough to address the current labor shortage,' said Ham Sun-ok, a professor of food and nutrition at Yonsei University. 'Automation reduces the need for workers to perform dangerous tasks such as working near hot oil or steam and lifting heavy items, lowering the risk of burns, cuts and slips that are common in busy kitchen environments. If robots handle simple, repetitive work, kitchen staff can focus on more supervisory roles.' However, unionized school kitchen workers may not be so excited. The Public Education Workers' Union, under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, in a statement in March said increasing wages and improving working conditions for human workers should take priority over the introduction of their robot replacements. 'The cooking robots currently being introduced are not capable of performing even a single cooking task properly without human assistance. There are limits to their ability to improve productivity or reduce workplace accidents, and they could even introduce new safety hazards," the union said.
The Star
20-05-2025
- Health
- The Star
More Seoul elementary students report depression, anxiety
Students enter the grounds of an elementary school in Seoul on March 14. - Photo: The Korea Herald/ANN SEOUL: The number of elementary school students in the capital experiencing symptoms related to depression and anxiety has steadily increased over the past few years, according to a recent study. Conducted over three years beginning in 2021, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education study included 113 Seoul-based elementary schools and surveyed 3,754 students. It was conducted in the format of a focus group interview, which is a qualitative research method where participants engage in a guided discussion about a specific topic. Based on conclusions drawn from the FGI study, the city's education office consulted relevant mental health experts on signs of mental health concerns. According to the Education Office's study, elementary students showing signs of depression on a three-point scale increased each year, from 0.51 point in 2021 to 0.66 in 2022 and 0.73 in 2023. Students showing signs of anxiety also showed a steady increase among elementary school students over the three years. On a 1-point scale, the score increased from 0.44 in 2021 to 0.54 in 2022 and 0.58 in 2023. Over the same period, elementary school students showing emotional sensitivity increased from 0.41 point in 2021 to 0.49 point in 2023. As for students exhibiting pessimism, the study also noticed an increase from 0.17 in 2021 to 0.26 in 2023. The study pointed to several factors behind the consistent decrease in mental health conditions among elementary students, including stress from academic pressure and peer-to-peer relationships, increased time spent on smartphones, greater exposure to social media, and reduced sleep. 'There are more underage students nowadays using social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, where they can indirectly experience what others' lives are like,' the report noted. 'This phenomenon can lead students to compare themselves to the glamorous lives of others, leading to feelings of relative deprivation.' Other than these factors, however, the study suggested that overprotective parenting attitudes in Korea may have also contributed to the rise in negative emotions. 'Children who are excessively emotionally protected and supported in the face of small concerns tend to have higher levels of anxiety and become easily discouraged by minor difficulties,' the study added. "Due to the trend of sensitive parenting and the incorrect approach of overly accommodating to children's emotions, elementary school students' emotional immunity is at a low level, making them more vulnerable to depression and anxiety." - The Korea Herald/ANN
Korea Herald
20-05-2025
- Health
- Korea Herald
More Seoul elementary students report depression, anxiety
A recent study by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education found that there has been a steady increase over the last three years in the capital city of elementary school students experiencing symptoms related to depression and anxiety. The study, conducted over three years beginning in 2021, included 113 elementary schools based in Seoul and surveyed 3,754 students. The study was conducted in the format of a focus group interview, which is a qualitative research method where participants engage in a guided discussion about a specific topic. Based on the conclusions drawn from the FGI study, the city's education office consulted with relevant mental health experts on signs of mental health concerns. According to the Education Office's study, elementary students showing signs of depression on a three-point scale increased each year, from 0.51 point in 2021 to 0.66 in 2022 and 0.73 in 2023. Students showing signs of anxiety also showed a steady increase among elementary school students over the three years. On a 1-point scale, the score increased from 0.44 in 2021 to 0.54 in 2022 and 0.58 in 2023. Over the same period, elementary school students showing sensitivity in emotions increased from 0.41 point in 2021 to 0.49 point in 2023. As for students exhibiting pessimism, the study also noticed an increase from 0.17 in 2021 to 0.26 in 2023. As for reasons behind the consistent decrease in mental health conditions among elementary students, the study pointed to several factors, including stress from academic pressure and peer-to-peer relationships, increased time spent on smartphones, greater exposure to social media and reduced sleep. 'There are more underage students nowadays using social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, where they are able to indirectly experience what others' lives are like,' the report noted. 'This phenomenon can lead students to compare themselves to the glamorous lives of others, leading to feelings of relative deprivation.' Other than these factors, however, the study suggested that overprotective parenting attitudes in Korea can also be said to have contributed to the rise in negative emotions. 'Children who are excessively emotionally protected and supported in the face of small concerns tend to have higher levels of anxiety and become easily discouraged by minor difficulties,' the study added. "Due to the trend of sensitive parenting and the incorrect approach of overly accommodating to children's emotions, elementary school students' emotional immunity is at a low level, making them more vulnerable to depression and anxiety."
Korea Herald
14-05-2025
- Korea Herald
Korea does not respect teachers, 60% of them say in a survey
Only one-third of teachers satifisfied with their jobs; over half thought about quitting within a year One-third of the teachers in Korea are satisfied with their jobs while over half of them think their profession is not respected by South Korean society, a survey conducted by the federation of teachers' associations nationwide showed Wednesday. The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations conducted the survey on 8,254 teachers -- from kindergarten to university-level educators -- across the country in commemoration of the annual Teachers' Day on Thursday, which showed 32.7 percent of the respondents were satisfied with being a teacher while another 32.3 percent said they are discontent. The rest said they were neither satisfied or dissatisfied with being a teacher. When asked if Korean society respects teachers, 64.9 percent said it does not while only 8.9 percent said it does. The respondents were asked to give a score on how much they are satisfied with being a teacher, to which they gave an average score of 2.9 out of 5. Due to generally low job satisfaction as a teacher, 58 percent of the respondents said they considered quitting or getting another job in the past year. "Excessive petition and infringement of teachers' rights" was picked by 77.5 percent of the respondents, followed by low wage (57.6 percent)" and "excessive workload (27.2 percent)." Concerns over teachers' rights violations Some 56.7 percent of the respondents said their students had violated their rights, while 56 percent said parents of students did it. It was found that 23.3 percent of the respondents received therapy or psychiatric treatment, due to their rights being violated. There have been rising concern over teachers' rights being violated by students and teachers, particularly in the wake of the 2023 suicide death of an elementary school teacher in Seoul. It was thought that the victim suffered from what was alleged to be harassment by some of the parents, although no criminal charges were pressed in relation to this claim. The KFTA conducted the same survey in October 2023, three months after the incident, which showed that 68.4 percent of the respondents were not satisfied with their jobs while only 13.2 percent were. It also showed that 87 percent of the respondents considered quitting or getting a new job within the past year. While not as significant as two years ago, studies indicate substantial infringement of teachers' rights persist. Another KFTA survey conducted earlier this month showed that 67.7 percent of the teachers had students curse at them, while another 22.9 percent said they were actually assaulted by the students. Last month, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education launched an investigation into a claim that a high school senior assaulted a teacher on the face, after the teachers told him not to use his phone in class. It was reported on Tuesday that the student is to be transferred to another school and subject to mandated therapy, while the victim and other teachers in the school will also receive therapy treatment.
Korea Herald
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Seoul rolls out 18-language service to protect multicultural students from school violence
As South Korea's classrooms grow increasingly diverse, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is launching a new interpretation service to protect the rights of multicultural students — many of whom face heightened vulnerability in schools due to language barriers. Starting this month, the Seoul Eastern District Office of Education will provide real-time interpretation support in 18 languages to support multicultural students involved in school violence investigations. The move comes as multicultural students, including newly arrived migrants and foreign nationals, represented 7.93 percent of the student body in the eastern Seoul region as of 2024. While the total number of students in Seoul continues to decline due to low birth rates, the proportion of multicultural students is on the rise, bringing new challenges to the education system, particularly in handling disciplinary or legal matters such as bullying and violations of teacher authority. Recognizing the need to protect the rights of these students, the education office has partnered with family centers in Seoul's Dongdaemun-gu and Jungnang-gu to create a community-based interpreter network. This 'community interpretation pool' will provide on-demand translation services in 18 languages, including Vietnamese, Russian, Uzbek, Mandarin, Thai, Turkish and Tagalog. The initiative will support the right of students to give testimony and defend themselves fairly in school violence or teacher abuse cases. The partnership agreement also outlines the assignment of interpreters for fair case handling and conflict-of-interest provisions. The education office says it will also open employment pathways for immigrants who have completed community interpretation training, supporting social integration. 'This is the time for education offices to join hands with local communities to ensure no student's rights are obstructed by language,' said Lee Mi-kyung, head of the Seoul Eastern District Office of Education. 'We will work to share the results of this initiative with other districts and push for it to be institutionalized.' Multicultural students have been found to be particularly vulnerable to school violence. Data from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family show that in 2021, 2.3 percent of multicultural students reported experiencing school violence — more than twice the rate of the overall student population at 1.1 percent.
