Surviving Winter with 200 Yeontan Briquettes... Colder Squalid Room Villages as Donations Decrease

Using 5 Sheets a Day Ends in Two to Three Months
Most Are Elderly Basic Livelihood Security Recipients
No Volunteers and Donations Halved

A view of a one-room village in Jungnim-dong, Seoul./Photo by Kim Young-won, Intern Reporter

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The clothing of Park Soon-deok (82, female), who lives in the jjokbangchon (tiny room village) in Changsin-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, is already suited for midwinter. Even at home, she cannot endure the cold without wearing multiple layers of coats and socks. The day I met Park on the 23rd was the first day this year when temperatures dropped below freezing. Park’s home is heated with briquettes. The 200 briquettes she bought three days ago with her elderly pension last for two to three months. She applied for briquette support but there is no promise of assistance. Styrofoam and paper panels were stuck all over the windows to block the cold wind. Park said, “When it rains, water leaks from the ceiling, so I put these things here and there,” adding, “Heating with just an electric blanket is too cold, so I bought briquettes, but I don’t know what I’ll do when they run out.”

Most residents of the jjokbangchon are basic livelihood security recipients struggling to make ends meet, and the elderly overwhelmingly make up the population. It is difficult to find suitable jobs in winter. The current price of briquettes is 800 won each, and if one uses an average of five briquettes a day, heating costs amount to about 4,000 won daily. On top of that, monthly rent, food expenses, and living costs make the 300,000 to 500,000 won welfare benefits barely sufficient. Those in slightly better circumstances survive by collecting waste paper, but many have difficulty moving due to geriatric diseases.

Like a briquette fire that is hard to revive once extinguished, the warmth of compassion has not been rekindled. According to the Bapsang Community Welfare Foundation, the number of volunteers, which reached 17,256 before the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019, dropped to 6,254 in 2020, a reduction to one-third. This year, group volunteer activities have been virtually nonexistent. Briquette donations also nearly halved from 850,000 in 2019 to 470,000 in 2020 during the peak donation months of September to November. This year, the amount collected is far below the target of 2.5 million briquettes. It is said that companies donating briquettes have also disappeared due to carbon neutrality and ESG (environment, social, governance) concerns.

The foundation estimates that 81,721 households in Korea use briquettes for heating. Most of these households live in poor conditions. Heo Ki-bok, CEO of the Bapsang Community Welfare Foundation, said, “With the phased recovery of daily life (with COVID), I hope more people will look around and that donations and volunteer work will return to normal,” emphasizing, “Since one 800-won briquette can be a great help to someone, I hope we can join forces to create a warmer society.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.