Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Sweltering heat takes toll on elderly, low income earners
Older adults line up for free meals around Tapgol Park in downtown Seoul amid scorching heat, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
Experts call for year-long heat wave response system to protect most vulnerable against climate crisis
Hundreds of older adults wearing hats and holding parasols to shield themselves from the scorching sun, queued up near Tapgol Park at the heart of Seoul in Jongno District, Wednesday, to receive free meals from soup kitchens around the neighborhood.
The free meals start at 11:30 a.m., but the line was already over 100 meters long as of 11 a.m.
An 81-year-old woman, who wished to be identified only by her surname Kim, said she came from eastern Gangdong District by subway with a free senior subway ticket around 7 a.m.
“This is the hottest summer I have ever experienced in my life. Really, it’s way too hot. There must be several people suffering heatstroke while waiting in line here (after staying in the sun too long),” she said, fanning herself with a piece of paper.
Some of them marked their place in line with their bags and umbrellas and ducked into the shade of trees nearby to hide from the heat, but as meal time approached, they went back and forth, worried about missing their turn.
Lee, 75, who was sitting on a piece of discarded cardboard next to Kim, said she braves the heat wave almost every day because she has “nowhere to go.”
“Even if it’s not, this is one of the few places that offers free food. So we can’t help it,” she said. “Some of us have grown familiar to each other over time, because we come here so often.”
Although they tried fanning themselves to cool down and stood under umbrellas or trees along the street to cover up from the sun, their faces and necks were drenched with sweat. Hundreds of other people around Kim and Lee's age stood around the park for an hour to as long as six hours under the sun until they received lunch boxes and bottled water from soup kitchens, operated by religious groups.
The daytime temperature hit a high of 33 degrees Celsius, Wednesday.
Older adults loiter in downtown Seoul's Tapgol Park amid scorching heat, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s most recent report on the operation of the heat wave monitoring system, a total of 1,810 people were reported to have been hospitalized for heat-related illnesses between May 20 and Monday, one-third of whom were aged over 65.
For a 70-year-old surnamed Jeong, who has been homeless around Seoul Station for nearly a decade, the scorching heat of this summer is also unbearable.
“The heat wave this summer is killing us all (homeless). Summer has always been a tough time, but it has never been as bad as this year,” he said, sitting around discarded boxes and newspapers, wearing a thick winter jacket that he owns, inside the station’s underground pass.
Experts stressed the risk of heat-related illnesses in older adults and called for countermeasures to protect society's most vulnerable from the climate crisis.
“In general, people aged 65 or over are vulnerable to thermal diseases, because their abilities to feel thirst and control body temperature have deteriorated … For them, standing outside for hours could be very dangerous,” said Yoo Byung-wook, a professor of family medicine at Soonchunhyang University.
“When they already feel thirsty, dehydration progresses and it is easy to be exposed to heat-related illnesses caused by dehydration."
Kang Jae-heon, a family medicine professor at Gangbuk Samsung Hospital, echoed Yoo’s view, encouraging older people to refrain from outdoor activities between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
“Heat waves should now be considered a natural disaster in Korea, and not only local governments but also national budgets and departments in charge should be prepared in the future,” Yoo said.
“Not only once in the summer, but throughout the whole year, it should be classified as a natural disaster such as a flood or an earthquake, and there should be a budget, personnel and disaster response manuals for countermeasures, especially for older people who are more vulnerable to the heat,” Yoo said.