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Busan Metropolitan City Turns Convenience Stores into Rest Areas for Mobile Workers, Partnering with the Private Sector to Ensure the Right to Rest

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Busan Metropolitan City announced that Mayor Chun Jae-soo will sign a memorandum of understanding with BGF Retail and Korea Seven today, August 20, at 1:30 p.m. in the International Protocol Room at City Hall on the operation of convenience store rest areas for mobile workers to safeguard their right to health and rest.

Mayor Chun Jae-soo, Lim Min-jae, Head of the Sales Development Division at BGF Retail, Kim Dae-il, CEO of Korea Seven, and other officials will attend the signing ceremony.

The agreement was developed to reflect the voices of mobile workers raised during the “100 Days for People’s Livelihoods: Dialogue with Citizens,” held in July as part of the “100-Day Emergency Measures for People’s Livelihoods.”

Convenience stores will be used to provide rest spaces close to where mobile workers, including delivery riders and designated drivers, work. Because the nature of their jobs requires them to travel throughout the city and work long hours, the initiative will give them convenient places to take a break near their work locations.

Through the agreement, Busan Metropolitan City plans to expand its network of convenience store rest areas for mobile workers from the existing 48 CU locations to a total of 96 locations by adding 48 7-Eleven stores.

The city currently operates a total of seven mobile worker support centers and rest areas. However, because these facilities are concentrated at major hubs such as areas near subway and railway stations, they have limitations in accommodating the diverse travel routes and waiting locations of mobile workers. The city has therefore been working to expand the network of rest areas by utilizing convenience stores located throughout local communities.

Since August, the city has been operating convenience store rest areas for mobile workers at 48 CU locations, and the agreement will add another 48 7-Eleven locations.

The 96 convenience store rest areas will be distributed across Busan’s 16 districts and counties, with six locations designated in each, improving accessibility so mobile workers can easily find and use a rest area near their current location.

During the first phase of operation at 48 CU convenience store rest areas from August 1 to 14, 1,855 people used the facilities over the two-week period, demonstrating strong interest and demand among mobile workers.

For stores where the support allocation provided during the first phase has been exhausted, the city plans to provide additional support in second and third rounds based on actual demand.

Rather than providing the same predetermined allocation to every location, the city plans to increase support for high-demand rest areas based on actual usage, thereby improving the effectiveness of the program.

Taking this agreement as an opportunity, Busan Metropolitan City plans to further develop a collaborative model that combines private-sector infrastructure embedded in everyday life with the public role of the administration to improve working conditions for mobile workers.

The city will comprehensively analyze this year’s operational results and user satisfaction to assess the program’s sustainability and effectiveness. It will also consider extending the program period in 2027 to cover both the hottest and coldest seasons of the year.

Through these efforts, the city aims to establish an accessible labor welfare framework that allows mobile workers exposed to seasonal climate risks, including extreme heat and cold, to take a short break nearby and look after their health.

Mayor Chun Jae-soo said, “For mobile workers, nothing is more important than having a place near where they work where they can take a short break. By using convenience stores, which are a familiar part of everyday life, as rest areas for mobile workers, we can provide a more closely connected network of places to rest. I hope this agreement will serve as a strong model of cooperation in which the public and private sectors use their respective infrastructure and capabilities to jointly protect workers’ health and safety.”

He added, “We will continue to listen closely to voices from the field and create a working environment in which all workers, including mobile workers, can work safely and in good health.”