[Anchor]

The elderly are especially vulnerable to such suffocating heat. However, many have no choice but to work outdoors under the burning sun to make a living, and endure tropical nights at home with only a single fan.

Reporter Yun Nara has the story.

[Reporter]

In an alleyway in Busan where daytime temperatures soared past 39°C (102°F).

Grandmother Choi pulls a handcart up the alley under the scorching sun.

Her face is soon covered in beads of sweat.

The stack of waste paper, piled as high as her height, looks precarious enough to spill over at any moment. Even after enduring the intense heat to collect this much paper, the money she gets in her hands is only about 2,000 to 3,000 won.

[Grandmother Choi (pseudonym): I don't want to do it, but I have no money. I pick it up at dawn, pile it up like this for a day or two, and then (sell it).]

Grandmother Hwang Soon-deok, who sells vegetables, relies on a single parasol to get through the heat wave.

She has to endure the blazing heat radiating from the ground, but she cannot easily close up her stall.

[Hwang Soon-deok / Street Vendor: I come out because I live in poverty. To make a living.]

Suffocating heat is also raging in Gangwon Province.

The temperature of rooms heated up during mid-day shows no sign of dropping even after night falls.

[Shin Pil-nam / Wonju, Gangwon Province: That's why I stay inside without going out, and only go out when it's cool. When I sweat, I get dizzy and my vision blurs. Then I don't go out. Absolutely not.]

It would be nice to even install an air conditioner, but money is the problem.

[Choi Geum-ja / Wonju, Gangwon Province: To install an air conditioner, it costs money now, and plus, the electricity bill is an issue too. So now I can't do it. I just lie down and live with a single fan.]

Elderly people who perform outdoor labor are particularly vulnerable to heat waves, and since many live alone, it is difficult for them to receive timely help even if heat-related illnesses occur.

[Ha Tae-hwa / Director, Bapsang Community Comprehensive Social Welfare Center: Elderly individuals, those with disabilities, or those with chronic illnesses may find it difficult to cope. And in cases where their social support networks are severed, it is even harder for them to ask for help.]

Experts point out that during heat wave periods, local governments should provide more active support, such as checking on vulnerable groups and supplying cooling items.

(Video Reporter: Hwang Tae-chul (KNN), Lee Kwang-soo (G1 Broadcasting) | Video Editing: Kim Jin-won)