Posted on 08/11/2018 7:30:37 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
While South Korea may be known as one of the world’s most technologically advanced countries, it is sorely lacking when it comes to air conditioning.
For many who live here, this has become painfully obvious as an unprecedented heatwave rages across the peninsula, killing at least 42 people since the end of May. The intense heat – with the mercury rising to a sultry 39.6 degrees Celsius (103 degrees Fahrenheit) – has forced people to seek refuge outside their homes.
“I have a friend who has no air conditioning,” said Kim Bum-ju, 29, a musician in Seoul. “Their home gets so hot they don’t come home until long after dark. When even the nights get too hot, they seek out karaoke bars.”
Nearly everyone owns a smartphone in South Korea, where digital literacy is among the world’s highest, but there is a surprising deficiency in air conditioners. Figures from 2013, the latest available data, showed 67.8 per cent of the population had air conditioners at home.
In neighbouring Japan, which is grappling with its own heatwave, the government recognises air conditioning as a necessity worthy of subsidy. But South Korea has yet to link the modern convenience to public welfare, partly because of high electricity bills.
Korea, like Japan, charges three rates based on the level of electricity usage. But unlike Japan, there is a wider discrepancy between the slabs.
This incremental system is only applied to residential use, drawing the public’s ire. Residential use makes up about 13 per cent of country’s energy demand while industrial use accounts for more than 55 per cent. Energy costs fluctuate depending on the time of year while the difference between costs is about 20 won, or almost 2 US cents, according to the Joongang Daily.
The unit price for those who use below 200 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month is set at 93.3 won, which jumps to 187.9 won per kWh for 201-400 kWh and 280.6 won per kWh for over 400 kWh. Under this system, a household that consumes 200 kWh a month would face a bill of 25,000 won (US$22.33). However, that bill increases to 250,000 won if it uses an air conditioner eight hours a day during the scorching heat.
Municipal and national governments have held emergency meetings to tackle the crisis, undertaking stopgap measures such as slashing electricity prices. But for many, this may not be enough.
For the hundreds of thousands who can’t afford to escape the heat or afford air conditioning, the government has set up designated “heatwave resting areas”. In Seoul, there are more than 3,000 such cooling shelters open mainly during the day.
The most vulnerable are the elderly in rural areas, where the death rate from heat-related causes is 5.6 times higher than cities, according to Springer Science+Business Media, a publishing company.
In Goryeong County, in North Gyeongsang province known for its extreme summers and high elderly population, officials say they have redoubled their efforts to check in on seniors.
“We have increased the number of elderly visits,” said Yoo Ju-yeong, an elderly welfare executive. “We’ve also been passing out fans and cold water.”
By 2050, 37 per cent of South Korea’s population will consist of the elderly and heatwaves are increasingly becoming an issue in the rapidly ageing nation. Currently, almost half of the elderly population lives in poverty.
Migrant workers have also been hit. A 61-year-old Chinese man working in a tobacco field in Cheongju recently died of heatstroke. In June, a Vietnamese man, 58, died after signs of dehydration while working on a tobacco field. Last weekend, a Russian construction worker was found dead, possibly from heatstroke. For years, human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called for an end to the exploitation of migrant workers in South Korea. In a 2014 report, Amnesty decried the unfair conditions many workers have to endure as well as the safety and health issues they faced. About 20,000 foreign labourers live in the province. Some live in storage containers, others in company dorms with no air conditioning and others in even worse housing conditions. Many migrants often work in premises with little or no air conditioning.
“We have sent a letter advising to the local community to avoid working outdoors during the daytime,” said Oh Hyun-jin, a safety policy official in Cheongju. “But we cannot force private sector companies, including farms and factories, to stop working because of the heatwave.”
Does porn, Viagra and welfare heat up the atmosphere? Probably the first two ;)
It is really not that big of deal, especially if you are not used to it. I have lived in Arizona for 34 years now and never lived in a house that had anything more than a swamp cooler and only had a couple cars that had working a/c, including the one we have now, my wife uses it now and then, but I have never even turned it on this year after charging it up at the end of spring.
If you came to my house right now and I turned off the AC you'd vamoose in 5 minutes flat.
West coasters don’t understand humidity.
Was there in 2014 - Coast Guard facility in Inchon had the AC set at 95 (Government mandated) - that was a miserable day of meetings (jacket and tie, drenched).
Very few people I knew as a child had air con do.
My grand parents slept in a wood 2 flat in Chicago
heck they used down covers and never owned fans
grand ma lived to 97.
I think this article is a bit hysterical
Do you remember the root beer flavored drink mix?
That stuff was awesome
I live in west Hollywood. From my house to the beach is about 7 miles, if I boardwalk ride to Dania beach, that’s about 12. So about 24 rounds rip.
I don’t ride when the sun is up. I ride when it’s cool, like Novemberrrrr.
I have a beach cruiser so I just checking out the girls, I mean the scenery.
Where about in broward you live? I’m out close to bcc college on hollywood boulevard. Ride up as far as sunrise and A1A, in no hurry, just out for a cruise. Sometimes I’ll go down to haulover or put the bike in the truck an go to shark valley or everyglades national park. Did the levee once out of Holiday park, but it takes you to Tamiami trail, not a whole lot to see.
When it gets cold here I open all my windows and kick on the ceiling fans. I don’t care if its 40* and I’m blowing smoke. Don’t have to mow the yard everyday. Mow every 2 weeks or maybe a month. If the water is still warm go to the beach. Snowed here when I was in high school January 19, 1977.
If it gets below 40* the iguanas start falling out of the trees.
The article supplies the answer and it has little to do with technology. The problem is public utility regulation policies that seems to cost-favor industry (and maybe even commercial) power consumers over residents.
But sometimes all it takes is a good crisis for public policy to change. Maybe the heat wave will have a positive affect of changing public utility regulations, and moving some of the cost burden of power consumption off of residential consumers.
Of course that will only seem to be the case when it is done, because surely if industrial power consumption costs rise, South Korean consumers could see some prices rise on the goods they purchase; partially offsetting lower utility bills.
Ah yes, things cost what they cost and in the end everything produced is something consumed and for which the consumer will pay for the cost (one way or another), and at least the cost even when the profit margin is slim.
68% with AC doesn’t sound bad. There’s chunks of America well below that. Some folks just ain’t into it.
They were a poor country just a few decades ago. It is not surprising that the elderly in rural areas have not caught up with all the benefits of their newly acquired wealth.
I know the difference... LOL my mom is in Oregon and it hits 90 there and you don’t want to be there... there is no a/c just sucking the cooler air from under the house to help a little. This time of year is monsoon season for us... it is NOT a dry heat this time of year. Current temp is 102 with 26% humidity...
The swamp cooler stopped working efficiently about 6 weeks ago and inside the house it has been 80-90degrees and 72-79% humidity since. 7 weeks ago we were still hitting mid teens over 100 degrees and you had to turn the cooler off at night or wake up freezing with it 62 in the house.
It is a trade off, I would much rather be warm than cold and I can go most of the winter without needing much added heat... we put up with 8 weeks of sticky weather every year and if possible, I like to be somewhere else.
Problem with A/C for me is the drastic changes in and out of the a/c will trigger a migraine and I wish I was dead then... A/C in a car blasting me in the face will do the same thing.
Im by Coral Springs...ride that area
I see a lot of riders at Markum park and riding the levee west of the sawgrass expressway. I prefer looking at all them pretty women at the beach. That’s my motivation for getting there, eating dinner my motivation for going home. Actually I just enjoy being outside cruising around, in no hurry, take my time, check out the sights. I got a beach cruiser very comfortable to ride.
Ever heard of the Santos trail? It’s in Ocala and from what I hear it’s pretty extensive, but not for a cruiser, more like mountain bikes.
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