A Foreign Man Sweating in the Mountains Despite Subzero Temperatures: What Was He Doing?

A Foreigner Volunteering to Remove Trash in Jangsu Mountain, Bupyeong

The good deed of a foreign man, who worked up a sweat removing trash buried in the mountains all by himself despite subzero temperatures, has come to light.

According to Bupyeong District in Incheon on January 25, a resident surnamed Park (age 65), who has lived in Cheongcheon-dong for 20 years, recently posted an account of his hiking experience on the Bupyeong District website.

According to Park, on the morning of January 17, a foreigner identified as Mr. A was pulling out trash buried in the ground, with a large pile of waste stacked up near the entrance to Jangsu Mountain.

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Despite the freezing weather, Mr. A's face and ears were bright red, but he was focused on gathering the trash, breathing heavily as he worked.

Other hikers only glanced at Mr. A without much interest, but Park, unable to contain his curiosity, approached him.

He cautiously asked, "Why are you doing this alone?" Mr. A paused his work and replied, "If I collect the trash like this and contact my friend, he reports it to the district office for me, and then a truck comes to take it away."

Park learned that Mr. A is an American who moved to Korea in 2024 and currently lives in a nearby apartment. He mainly cleans up trash along the hiking trails on Saturdays.

Park said, "I asked if he worked in an environmental field, but he said he didn't. Seeing Mr. A's face so red from the cold early on a weekend morning, I felt deeply ashamed of myself." He added, "Reflecting on my indifference even though I live in the neighborhood, I exchanged phone numbers with Mr. A and promised to join him next time."

A foreigner cleaning up trash in the mountains. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Meanwhile, since January 1, a new measure has been implemented in the Seoul metropolitan area prohibiting the direct burial of trash bags for volume-based waste disposal. The regulation requires that trash in these bags be sorted for recycling or incinerated, with only the remaining incineration ash allowed to be landfilled. This policy has been applied since 2026 in the three metropolitan regions-Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon. As a result, a significant amount of metropolitan waste has been sent to private incineration facilities in regions such as Chungnam, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, causing issues.