Mothers Tighten Budget

By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Sixteen-year-old Bae Gun-souk in Gwangju donated his middle school uniform to his school flea market as he'll enter high school in March. His school plans to sell it at a bargain price to a junior who can't afford to buy a 300,000 won uniform.

His high school encouraged students to delay buying uniforms. ``Not everyone can afford brand new uniforms, especially when we can get taller or fatter and may need new ones in no time,'' he said.

More and more people are rushing to buy second hand books and uniforms to save money for the new semester. Some students dress in expensive uniforms but they're becoming fewer and fewer with the economic downturn hitting parents hard.

Textbook prices have risen up to 11.7 percent from a year ago and prices of uniforms rose 15 percent. A package of Jeongwa, or guidebook for all subjects, costs 25,000 won, up 12.5 percent from last year.

Mothers are tightening their belts. According to online bookstore Aladdin (www.aladdin.co.kr), the number of used book transactions rose to 48,200 in January from 42,800 last November, more than 48 percent of which involved textbooks and other educational material. Many parents are trying to give their children used books for the new school year.

On Internet portals such as Daum and Naver, there are hundreds of articles asking for such items and talking about how expensive new goods are these days.

A second hand bookshop in Bogwang-dong, Seoul, reported a 30-percent jump in daily customers this year, mostly for academic books, and events have taken place across the country to help poor people buy used books.

The Seongdong-gu Office in northern Seoul held flea markets for school uniforms, the latest of which sold out in just three hours. Some uniforms were traded for larger ones.

The office received items from donors who were mostly graduates from nearby schools, washed them or dry-cleaned them and sold them at 1,000-5,000 won per item. ``We could feel the intensity. The event has never been this popular,'' an office staff member said.

Civic groups such as branches of YWCA are also planning such events before March, when the new semester starts.

The Fair Trade Commission said it would monitor the price of school uniforms and textbooks for the new semester as part of its project to control consumer prices.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr