Korea faces problems stemming from an increasingly aging society, such as supporting the elderly, taking care of senior citizens' health and the social isolation of the elderly. The Ministry of Health and Welfare created local Seniors Clubs to tackle this challenge work.
 The Senior Clubs find and make better occupations for the elderly and provide them with jobs. 99 Senior Clubs were established all over the country, and there are 4 Senior Clubs in Cheong-ju.

 One 'Cheong-ju Senior Club' is helping the elderly to solve their social isolation problems and economic difficulties by offering senior citizens various jobs like the '6070 Apartment Parcel Service'.

<CBT visited the Cheongju Senior Club>
  On a sweltering day, we visited the Cheong-ju Senior Club located in Bokdae-dong. On the first floor, some workshops are conducted, and there is an office on the 2nd floor. The workshops are filled with the elderly writing reports on what they worked on and sharing their know-how with one another after they finished their tasks. In the 'On-jeong Business' workshop, the seniors were busy preparing to provide free meals for elementary students during their vacation.

<We are happy! Because we can work!>
  Lee Youn-jeom(65) and Seo Keoy-suk(70) said that they are happy to work and to learn something despite their old age and that working with young people makes them feel rejuvenated.
  Most of the seniors in the club are proud of doing their jobs and working hard. Many seniors who were interviewed hope to get higher wages and better opportunities.
  Now, the Cheong-ju Senior Club is focusing on senior members who live in absolute poverty. However, there are many seniors who want to work although they are not in absolute poverty. I hope the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the local government will create many jobs for seniors, so that the Korean community will become a better society where more seniors can have their own roles.
  The seniors who have their own jobs often receive minimum wage. This payment is not enough to keep their body and soul. It has a huge meaning to earn money. However, seniors want their wages to be increased. Despite the inflation, they are still stuck with minimum wage. I hope that the minimum wage well reflect the inflation of prices.

<The barrier of prejudice the Senior Club faces>
 Section Chief Kim said Cheong-ju Senior Club administrators still have a lot of difficulties operating the Senior Club.  The biggest problem is the social prejudice about 'working seniors'. Because of the prejudice that the quality of senior labor is low, many companies avoid employing the aged.
 The disagreement between the company and the seniors gives the club difficulty in planning and practicing business. The companies would like to hire younger seniors in their early 60s. However, senior citizens who hope for employment are mostly in their mid-sixties. Senior employment has not been smoothly achieved.
 The Cheong-ju Senior Club is struggling with financial difficulties too. Because the local government cut the budget, the club can't operate enough programs to meet the increased demand of seniors. Besides, they don't receive central government funding or donations from citizens because the club has no legal standing.

<The elderly who don't know the existence of the Senior Club>
 The Cheong-ju Senior Club was established ten years ago, but many people have little acquaintance with it. In addition, the Cheong-ju Senior Club is marching in place, not expanding because of  social and economic difficulties.
 Section Chief Kim suggested, "To revitalize the clubs, Senior Clubs and national policies should be developed. The clubs should try to practice and plan good programs, and senior citizens should actively participate in the programs. Furthermore, the government should support for Senior Clubs and recognize their legal status. If the mass media publicly promotes Senior Clubs, that would be great."

<The aging problem can be the young people's problem>
  When I went back to the Cheong-ju Senior Club, I recognized the problem of our aging society. I realized this is a serious problem for the youth to support senior citizens because the youth will also become old in the future.
 The Senior Club is a novel innovation to solve problems of the aged. To keep up with the times of our aging population, the essential task of Korea is to try to create more jobs that utilize the elderly labor force. There should be more senior citizens who work if they want so they can contribute to society through organizations such as Senior Clubs in the future.