[Anchor]
Amidst the suffocating, scorching heat, the spacious and cool Incheon International Airport is turning into a summer shelter for senior citizens.
Even though local governments operate over 4,000 heat wave shelters in Seoul alone, reporter Im Jihyeon looks into why seniors are traveling all the way to the airport.
[Reporter]
This afternoon (August 6) at Incheon International Airport.
Seniors are sitting together playing janggi (Korean chess), and sharing food while seated on benches.
This area is a wooden platform located inside the airport.
Rather than travelers, it is easy to see seniors who have come to escape the heat, laying out mats and sitting together in small groups.
Since the subway and AREX (Airport Railroad) are free for those aged 65 and older, there is no burden of transportation costs, making the airport a popular summer destination for seniors where they can enjoy the blast of air conditioning in an open space.
The reason they come all the way to the airport, despite the distance, is because it is a space where they do not have to worry about being judged.
[An Il-soon / Bupyeong-gu, Incheon: (At places like cafes) can you sit there for two hours or however long while worrying about being judged? You can't. (At the airport), even if two or three hours pass, you can just sit quietly because there's no one to make you feel uneasy or judge you.]
Incheon International Airport Corporation maintains that the airport, as a public facility, is a place anyone can visit, and they are managing the space to ensure that regular users do not experience inconvenience.
There is another reason why seniors seek out the airport.
Heat wave shelters operated by local governments for the general public lack sufficient guidance for seniors.
[Lee Young-suk / Gangseo-gu, Seoul: I don't know (about the heat wave shelters). I don't even know where they are.]
Out of the 4,034 heat wave shelters in Seoul, about 70%, or 2,817 of them, operate on a membership system, making it difficult for seniors to use them comfortably.
Only 202 are explicitly designated as accessible to anyone.
[Heo Jun-su / Professor, Department of Social Welfare at Soongsil University: Because the government created heat wave shelters from a supplier-centric perspective, they are not really places where seniors can feel comfortable. We need local communities that can adequately accommodate the individual needs of the elderly within the local area.]
Experts point out that active publicity and more meticulous policies are needed so that seniors can easily escape the heat closer to home.
(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News / Video by Kim Han-gyeol, Video Editing by Jang Hyun-ki, Design by Jang Seong-beom)
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