Gyeonggi-do Province's trial project will help foreign teenage girls buy menstrual products. (GS25)

By Gil Kyuyoung

Gyeonggi-do Province on Oct. 16 announced a pilot project to allow foreign teenage girls to buy menstrual products using anonymous cards.

In 2021, Gyeonggi-do launched a universal support project for such teens. From this year, eligibility for the program was expanded to expats registered with the province and ethnic Koreans from abroad with foreign nationality.

The project seeks to benefit foreign female teens with no mobile phones or those struggling with the language barrier. Its cards without the bearers' names allow the purchase of menstrual products using the province's local currency program without a separate registration process.

The target areas are Ansan and Pyeongtaek, two cities in the province where over half of Gyeonggi-do's foreign female teens reside. Through Nov. 15, such youth living in both cities from ages 11-18 can apply for a card at the community centers closest to them.

A recipient will receive a Gyeonggi-do local currency card to purchase menstrual items worth KRW 13,000 per month, capped at KRW 156,000 a year. The card can be used until Dec. 31 at the convenience store chains CU, GS25, 7-11 and Emart 24 in the relevant city or county.

"We want to guarantee the right to health and improve welfare for foreign female youth," said Go Young-mi, director of the provincial government's Adolescence Division. "We will study the effectiveness of the trial project and consider its expansion to all 31 of the province's cities and counties."

gilkyuyoung@korea.kr