2011 Seoul free lunch referendum

The Seoul Free Lunch Referendum was a referendum held on 24 August 2011, on the subject of free school meals in the schools around the Seoul Metropolitan Area. Then-mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, proposed to provide a limited free meal service to the 30% of the impoverished children in Seoul, but the Democratic Party proposed to make the free meal service to every child in Seoul starting from younger elementary school children and gradually to middle school children.[1] This has become the cause of Oh Se-hoon's action to make the final decision of the policy through a referendum. The referendum was later rejected due to the low voter turnout of 25.7%, significantly lower than the required turnout of 33.3%.[2] The low voting rate contributed Oh Se-hoon's resignation from the mayoralty of Seoul.[3]

  1. ^ Jung (정), Gi-cheol (기철) (2010-10-22). ‘친환경 무상급식’ 해결기미 가물가물. Asia Today (in Korean). Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  2. ^ Kim (김), Pul-ip (풀잎) (2011-08-24). 무상급식 주민투표 결과…투표율 25.7%에 무산 ‘오세훈 거취 주목’. 아츠뉴스 사회 (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  3. ^ "Seoul Mayor Steps Down After Losing School Lunch Referendum". VOA News. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2023.