Big Issue Korea (BIK), the South Korean version of the London-based weekly magazine Big Issue, published its first issue on Monday. The current affairs and entertainment magazine offers homeless people an opportunity to earn through its sales.
Fifteen people have begun sales in Seoul, and BIK looks to increase their number to 50 this year, company officials said. Sellers are issued temporary ID cards and an initial set of ten free copies. Half a month of vending permits them to purchase copies of the magazine for KRW1400 (£0.75) each and sell them for KRW3000 (£1.60) thereafter. The initiative will also be supported by the Seoul metropolitan government.
Big Issue magazine was founded in London in 1991 by John Bird and Gordon Roddick, and has a weekly readership of more than 670,000 in the UK, helping support over 2,900 homeless and vulnerably housed people in the country.
The magazine is also published in Australia, Japan, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi and Namibia.
