[Anchor]

Despite the scorching heat wave, sanitation workers are locked in a fierce battle under the blazing sun to ensure clean and pleasant daily lives for citizens. They need to take brief breaks in between grueling tasks to cool off, but the reality is that finding a suitable place isn't easy.

Reporter Hong Seung-yeon accompanied them on their waste collection rounds.

[Reporter]

Sanitation workers load garbage piled up along the roadside onto a truck.

Before even 9:00 AM, the temperature has already soared to 35°C.

Walking through alleys to collect trash quickly leaves their entire bodies soaked in sweat.

[Yu Min-o / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: These days, the sun comes up from dawn, so it's a constant battle against the heat starting right from then.]

As I walk through the alleys for about 30 minutes, carrying recyclables together like this,

it is so hot that sweat is pouring from my body like rain.

Moving bulky waste is even more grueling.

[One, two, three! Watch your legs!]

Waste furniture, baked by the sun all day, is too hot to even touch.

The surface temperature well exceeds 48°C (118°F).

[Jung Nam-gu / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: This year is even hotter than last year... We bring ice water when we set out, but it melts right away, even inside the truck.]

Due to the risks of sharp waste and falling objects, workers are required to wear helmets, safety shoes, and even protective goggles, but doing so is not easy because of the sweat.

[Cho Heon-gwang / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: We sweat so much that we have to keep taking them off and wiping, so not many people actually wear them.]

With trash continuing to pour in, the work can neither be stopped nor postponed.

This collection truck started picking up waste at 7:30 AM.

In just an hour and a half, a 3.5-ton truck was completely filled.

[Lee Jong-seob / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: We can't put it off. It starts smelling right away and bugs breed, so we have to dispose of it immediately on the same day.]

There is no proper space to rest in between the exhausting tasks.

While rest areas are provided, the nature of the work requires constantly moving across assigned zones, making them difficult to visit.

Finding any visible shade to briefly cool off from the heat is all they can do.

[Kim Gu-yeong / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: Usually, there are small resting places nearby. But since we keep moving around, not having a resting place is quite tough.]

To protect the pleasant daily routines of citizens, sanitation workers silently continue their labor right in the middle of the scorching streets today.

(Video by: Kim Min-chul)