[Anchor]

Extreme heatwaves continue, making it difficult even to stand outside for a moment during midday. Yet, despite this weather, delivery workers have no choice but to head out onto the blazing roads.

Reporter Hong Seung-yeon accompanied them for a day to see what it is like.

[Reporter]

Downtown Daejeon is under a heatwave warning as daytime temperatures soar to 34°C (93°F).

Delivery workers move busily on the fiercely heated asphalt.

With the beating sun and radiating ground heat, breathing is difficult.

Even after drinking water repeatedly, the heat does not subside.

[Ah, it is hot.]

A single rider handles an average of about 50 deliveries a day, and there are countless buildings without elevators or with broken ones.

After climbing the stairs, they are instantly drenched in sweat.

[Lee Yeon-gi / Delivery Worker: It is hot. I sweat... It is tough.]

Due to the nature of their work, delivery workers are required to wear these helmets.

Because ventilation is poor, sweat forms with even the slightest movement, and the perceived temperature feels even higher.

Measuring the surface temperature of the helmet shows it well exceeds 50°C (122°F).

However, finding even an appropriate space to catch their breath is difficult.

[Lee Yeon-gi / Delivery Worker: We rest under large trees or in the shade next to apartment buildings. There is nowhere to rest.]

There is only one mobile worker rest stop operated by the Daejeon metropolitan government in the entire city, and even that is only open on weekdays.

[Park Ji-hyun / Director, Daejeon Labor Rights Center: These are people who have to work without a break. Even if they are somewhere else, they essentially have to come all the way here just to get some rest...]

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, taking a 20-minute break every two hours is mandatory when the perceived temperature reaches 33°C (91°F) or higher, but because the vast majority of delivery workers operate as independent contractors with special employment status, they fall outside the protection of the law.

[Song Seok-ho / Head of Daejeon Branch, Rider Union: We are often told by companies to take breaks autonomously, but that is practically just a recommendation to rest. As for actual spaces to rest, the general conditions required for it, and the costs, we have to figure all of that out entirely on our own...]

Amid forecasts that scorching heatwaves will continue day after day, delivery workers are running through the field while battling the intense heat day by day.

(Video by Kim Min-chul | Video Editing by Kim Jong-tae)