On December 16, 2023, MONA hosted a free market in collaboration with Minerva University's Seoul campus in Yongsan District.
For about three hours, the university's international students brought out items they no longer needed before leaving the country and shared them with MONA's community, which then had more than 15,000 members, both Koreans and expats.
Every semester, students leave behind items that would otherwise become waste, and a small campus team cannot handle them all. The market passed those items on to people who could use them. Minerva's Seoul campus hosts 120 international students from 50 countries. This was its first collaboration with MONA, with more events planned as new students arrive.
Students helping students
Free markets are one of MONA's social sharing events, which connect people who no longer need items with people, charities and businesses who can use them. MONA's founder described the idea behind the event as "students helping students, people helping people." MONA plans to partner with more universities in Korea.
Source: The Korea Times, January 9, 2024
