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| Oh In-tae, right, an owner of Italian bistro "Zinjja Pasta," pose with his business partners at his restaurant in Mapo-gu, western Seoul. / Courtesy of Zinjja Pasta |
By Kim Jae-heun
It has been three years since 34-year-old Oh In-tae, the representative of Italian bistro "Zinjja Pasta," opened his restaurant in the popular district of Hongdae in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and he says business there is never easy. Nonetheless, he recently began serving free pasta to underfed children visiting his restaurant.
"I am not making a lot with my business here, but I just could not ignore children starving because they have no money," Oh told The Korea Times, Tuesday. "I was also poor when I was young and I skipped a lot of meals. I remember how sad I felt then and I do not want children to go through the same experience."
Oh learned about Mapo-gu Office's project to support poorly-fed children when he visited its building last month.
The local government issues a card for children in the low-income brackets who often skip meals, especially during vacations when school lunches are not provided, with a maximum limit of 150,000 won that can be used at stores which partner with the office, mostly convenience stores or bakeries.
"The amount children can spend on a meal with the card is ridiculously small considering the average price of a dish at restaurants these days. After discussing with my business partners at the restaurant, we to serve free food for these children," Oh said.
Despite his decision, not many children came for the free meal because they did not know about it.
Oh posted the free meal event on Twitter and it went viral, getting retweeted over 30,000 times.
"We rarely see these children on weekdays. About five to 10 groups come on the weekends though. I am expecting more to come when school vacation starts this month," Oh said.
Oh remembers three siblings ― two boys and a girl ― who visited his restaurant recently to eat pasta. They came from over two-hours away and they were hesitant about entering the restaurant at first.
"I told them to come in. The older brother was around 11 to 12 years old and the youngest one, probably a kindergartener. They were just so happy that they were eating out," Oh added.
After the event went viral online, Oh said the number of ordinary customers at his restaurant also increased by 40 percent.
If he earns more money, Oh wants to help former "comfort women" next.
"It is our goal to earn a lot of money and share it with society. We are currently sponsoring those women by buying bracelets made by supporter groups and handing them out to customers. But it cost a lot so we can't purchase a massive amount. We want to buy like 200 of them at once and share them with others to raise more awareness of Japan's wartime sex slavery," Oh said.
