Most people may not know that even today some Seoul residents continue to rely on coal briquettes to warm their homes in winter. Across the country, an estimated 200,000 households still use coal briquettes for heating and cooking. Even in Seoul, where redevelopment projects are ceaselessly being undertaken, about 3,000 households that rely on this source of fuel. Since a great majority of these households are low-income families and individuals, their number has remained little changed over these years.
Due to ever-declining demand, however the number of coal briquette producers is rapidly decreasing. To make things worse, the remaining briquette makers cannot afford to provide delivery service for orders of less than 300 pieces. And even when they provide delivery, there is an added charge of 10 won per briquette for houses located in hilly areas. As a result, the price for a briquette can differ from house to house, by more than twice sometimes, even within a single neighborhood. The briquettes delivery is a labor-intensive activity, through which you could show your sympathy to your underprivileged neighbors during the cold winter.

Heartwarming Effort

The participants of the 7th Future Leaders Forum: Korea, China and Japan who gathered at the Hongje 3-dong Community Center, on the cold Saturday morning, included Professor Kang Moon-sung of Korea University; Choi Kyu-nam, president of the Dongguk University Research Institute for Image and Cultural Content; Lee Min-ho, director of the Planning and Budget Office of the Ministry of Environment; Kim Jung-soo, executive director of Bain & Company; Kim Hong-kook, senior editor of Le Monde Diplomatique; and Cho Jeong-seon, scrip writer of the KBS weekend drama, “Believe in Love,” along with three of the drama’s actors and actresses, and their managers.
Participants from of the 8th forum session included Chung Gwang-ryeol, director of the Communication Team of Samsung Electronics; Professor Lee Jae-seung of Korea University; Lim Seok-kyu, head of the Political Desk of The Hankyoreh; Yoon Yu-seon, director of the planning and coordination department of the Korea Briquette Sharing Movement; and members of their families. Since this was the first time for participants of the Future Leaders Forum join, a volunteer service activity, officers of the Korea Foundation, also took part in the activity to express their appreciation for the participants’ hard work.

Bringing Smiles to Hongje-dong

Gaemi (Ants) Village in Hongje-dong is home to some 250 households, of which 70 households rely on briquettes for heating in the winter. The volunteers delivered briquettes to four houses located high on a hill. The event, held just ahead of the lunar New Year’s Day, warmed the hears of senior citizens who were leading solitary lives in the needy neighborhood.
It is said there are 22 holes in each briquette piece, which is equal to the number of strokes for the Korean word haengbok (happiness). The volunteers seemed to be beaming like angels as they delivered happiness and warmth to elderly people.

Choi Jae-hee Wow Image