On the 17th, Gangnam District in Seoul announced that it will verify whether robots can replace cafeteria cooks at three schools to prepare meals. The robots will be deployed to boil soups and stews in large pots and to fry and stir-fry foods.
The introduction of communal meal preparation robots in Gangnam District is due to the education authority experiencing difficulties in hiring cooks. Cafeteria cooks, who must prepare large quantities of food at once, face high work intensity while earning relatively low wages. As of April, the vacancy rate for cooking staff in the Seoul area is 9.0%, with Gangnam and Seocho districts having the highest rate at 27.2%. Recently, a public middle school in Seocho District faced controversy over inadequate side dishes provided due to a shortage of cooks.
This pilot project will be jointly conducted by Gangnam District, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and Korea Robotics starting in the second half of the year. Gangnam District will be in charge of project planning and performance management, while the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will manage the schools and provide administrative support. Korea Robotics will implement a practical system suitable for school cooking environments. The total project cost amounts to 750 million won, including 250 million won from the national budget and 500 million won from local funds.
The robots have been developed to cook using gas. They can utilize the existing gas-based cooking infrastructure without needing to expand electrical facilities. Each cooking robot can handle frying, stir-frying, and soup or stew preparation, and will be able to control gas and steam simultaneously.
Gangnam District expects that the introduction of cooking robots in cafeterias will protect workers from poor working conditions involving repetitive motions at high temperatures and reduce their workload.
Jung Sung-myung, the head of Gangnam District Office, said, "By applying robot technology, we will lay the foundation for efficient meal provision and improvement of the working environment for cooking staff," adding, "Based on the results of the pilot project, we aim to successfully establish a model that can be expanded across Seoul."