As wait times have stretched to 4 to 5 hours, Sungsimdang, a famous bakery in Daejeon, is offering a "free pass (priority entry)" program for pregnant women, and an online community is debating the policy.
On the 21st, a post appeared on an online community saying the author felt displeased because of Sungsimdang's preferential policy for pregnant women. The writer, identified as A, said, "I worked hard and waited 80 minutes in line to get in, but pregnant women went in right away," adding, "They already get many benefits, and I don't like that they even carry around the paper with their due date to claim all of them."
The writer added, "They kept coming in groups so much that I wondered whether there were really that many pregnant women," and said, "In the five minutes I waited at the front of the line, it seemed like more than 20 people went in."
After the post went public, online users were split. Those defending the program said it is unreasonable to require more than an hour of waiting for pregnant women, who are physically burdened, and argued there is no reason to criticize a good-faith welfare measure run voluntarily by a private company. Some also criticized the view that dismisses it as cutting in line as being cold-hearted.
Others voiced sympathy with the author's feelings. They said they understand making accommodations for a small number of people, but if too many enter first in a short time, regular waiting customers can only feel deflated. Proposals also emerged to broaden eligibility to older adults or people with disabilities, or to set hourly caps on priority entries as a supplement.
Since 2024, Sungsimdang has offered pregnant women a 5% discount on all items and allowed one accompanying person to enter the store immediately without waiting.
At first, showing only a pregnancy badge allowed passage, but as fake pregnant women abused the system—buying badges separately on secondhand marketplaces and visiting—the store tightened verification by cross-checking a maternity handbook with an ID.