Under the Blazing Sun in the "Boiling Furrows": Between Livelihood and Survival [Workers in Crisis] ⑦

Steaming Heat from 8 a.m. Under the Scorching Sun
Drenched in Sweat Within Five Minutes of Work
Missing the Right Time Means Losing the Year's Harvest

"There is a right time for harvesting. We always say, 'Let's just finish this and rest,' but in the end, so many of us collapse before we get the chance."

On July 29, in a chili pepper field in Sabuk-myeon, Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. Even before 8 a.m., the temperature had already soared past 30 degrees Celsius since dawn, and the heat shimmered intensely. Instead of morning fog, waves of heat rose like mirages from the nearby hills, and there was not a single patch of shade in the chili field.

Our reporter is harvesting peppers in a field in Sabukmyeon, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do on the 29th. Photo by Youngchan Choi

The chili pepper harvest begins in mid-July and continues through August and September. Especially in summer, the hot and dry weather brings pests and diseases, and if the timing is missed even slightly, the peppers rot or burn on the plants. The government guideline of "avoiding outdoor work when the temperature exceeds 35 degrees Celsius" feels like a luxury to these farmers.

From 8 a.m. to noon, I joined the chili harvest. Within five minutes of starting, my clothes were soaked in sweat. The dried chili leaves crumbled at the slightest touch, and every time I bent my back, sweat dripped from my forehead. The snipping of scissors kept pausing. Sweat mixed with salt stung my eyes, blurring my vision, and I had to wipe my face with a towel several times.

The chili stems do not even reach waist height?they are about knee-high, averaging 50 to 70 centimeters. To harvest, you have to bend your back beyond a right angle. Maintaining this posture, you crawl along each row, one after another. The furrows between the rows are steep and narrow, making it impossible to sit or even stand comfortably.

From the soil at my toes, heat rose like steam. Under a cloudless sky, the sun-baked earth seemed to pour its heat back onto us in revenge. There was not even a breeze. The air felt still and suffocating, and the more I bent over, the more the hot air brushed against my nose. After about an hour, the sweat showed no sign of stopping, and the scissors in my hand began to slip. My clothes, drenched with sweat, felt heavy, and my legs began to tremble.

On the 29th, the temperature in a chili pepper field in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province rose to 35.5 degrees Celsius. Photo by Youngchan Choi

At 10:30 a.m., two and a half hours into harvesting, I tried to straighten my back, but even changing posture was difficult. If I wrung out my clothes, water would drip. Dizziness set in. The ground seemed to sway, and it was hard to even breathe with my shoulders straightened. Yet the farmers working alongside me continued to pick chilies in silence.

Most of the people I met in the field were elderly farmers in their seventies or older. Farmer Lee (80) said, "Even if we come out early in the morning, once the sun is overhead, our bodies start to burn first. If we miss the right time, the whole year's crop is lost. Then how would we survive?" Lee sat down for a moment, then struggled to stand up, gasping for breath. His face was flushed red, and his hands trembled.

Every year, someone in the village collapses while harvesting crops. Park Jeongsuk (83) said, "It happened last year, and again this year. Everyone is in a rush to harvest, so they keep postponing rest and end up losing consciousness without realizing it."

Our reporter is harvesting peppers in a field in Sabukmyeon, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do on the 29th. Photo by Youngchan Choi

Chili pepper harvesting is difficult to mechanize. Each pepper must be cut by hand, and you have to distinguish between fully ripe and less ripe ones. Moreover, the aging rural population makes the situation even harder. According to Statistics Korea, as of 2023, out of a total farming population of 2,089,000, 52.6% were aged 65 or older. In effect, more than half are elderly.

Climate change is imposing a double burden on chili farmers. Last year, the peppers burned before they could ripen due to the heatwave, and this year, alternating heavy rains and high temperatures have spread diseases. Lee said, "There are so many cases where the peppers rot before they even ripen in the sun, so I can never feel at ease."

What is even more frightening is that when someone collapses from exhaustion during harvest, it often goes unnoticed. The rows in the field block the view, and people are spread out, so even if someone falls, it can take a long time before anyone realizes. Farmers said, "If someone just quietly sits down, everyone else is too busy working to notice. Sometimes, it's only when we wonder why someone hasn't been seen for a while that we finally discover them."

Our reporter is placing harvested peppers into a storage container in a field in Sabuk-myeon, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do on the 29th. Photo by Youngchan Choi

At 11:40 a.m., I could no longer maintain my posture and had to stop harvesting. It was around the time someone said, "Let's stop and eat." All I had left in my hands was a towel, now only warm, and a pair of scissors heated by the sun. In four hours, I had managed to harvest just about 10 kilograms of chili peppers. Experienced farmers reportedly pick nearly 20 kilograms in the same amount of time.

But that was not the end. The harvested peppers had to be carried to the village. There were no forklifts or cultivators. Everyone carried boxes by hand. Each box weighs around 15 kilograms, but even with a half-empty box, I struggled to keep my balance. When we finally reached the village, a cold shower awaited, but the heat did not subside. My head did not clear, and my back remained damp with sweat.

A year’s harvest is the crystallization of sweat. In every single chili pepper, in that red fruit, is embedded the scorching heat and the weight of endless labor. In the end, I sank down, still wearing my sweat-soaked clothes. The sun was still blazing, and in the chili field, the words "Let's just finish this and rest" echoed again. That phrase was a promise of survival, one that would continue today and tomorrow.