Interior ministry, Kia expand fresh-food delivery to Sunchang

South Korea's interior ministry and Kia launched a fresh-food delivery service in Sunchang County, North Jeolla Province, on Nov. 6, extending a rural program aimed at residents who struggle to buy groceries as local shops disappear.

The launch ceremony in Sunchang drew Jin Myeong-gi, head of the interior ministry's local autonomy innovation office, along with North Jeolla administrative vice governor Lee Ji-seong, Sunchang County Governor Choi Young-il, Kia executive director Lee Deok-hyun and a director from ChildFund Korea, the ministry said Monday.

Kia supplies two PV5 cargo vehicles and operating support through a rural mutual-growth fund, while ChildFund Korea and local social-economy organizations handle the deliveries and day-to-day running. The interior ministry and Sunchang County are building the delivery infrastructure and helping local groups take part in operations.

Sunchang was picked because many of its townships and towns have no supermarket or convenience store, and elderly residents make up close to half the population, according to Kia.

The Sunchang service will cover 65 villages across seven townships, the company said. It follows the first site in Uiseong County, North Gyeongsang Province, where Kia operates four PV5 vehicles across about 70 villages in six townships; as of September, that service had made 1,660 visits to 112 villages and served 10,003 people. Kia plans to expand to eight vehicles in total with the Sunchang addition.

The two sides began working together under a March agreement on cooperation to counter local extinction. The interior ministry said it will review the service's results and resident satisfaction and support expansion to other depopulation areas that want it, and aims to broaden the model beyond grocery deliveries to include jobs and day care linked to local social-economy organizations.

"I hope this service, now extended to Sunchang, will help ease inconvenience in residents' daily lives and give the region fresh energy," Jin said. "The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will actively support the spread of this public-private cooperation model to more depopulation areas so that residents can enjoy basic public services wherever they live."

Kia's Lee said the expansion of the company's Move to You service would let it help more elderly people in more regions, and that the automaker will continue to meet its social responsibilities by improving living conditions in depopulating areas.