A Solution for the Korean Litter Problem

Whenever we get the chance, my wife and I like to attend teaching seminars at Kyungbook National University in Daegu, South Korea. Not far from the building where the seminars are held, is a grassy yard full of statues. What makes this area stand out is the large number of headless Buddhas. Sadly I see these dismembered icons as symbolic of much of modern Korea – particularly universities.

My wife and I have had the chance to visit several universities in Korea, and each of them seems to follow the same development strategy. Step one: build big, shiny new facilities. Step two: do not complete the projects – leave at least one small detail left undone. Step three: do not maintain the buildings, and if you do hire custodians, make sure they have no idea how to properly clean the facilities.

Looking at the headless Buddhas, I can only imagine that at some point someone expended a great deal of time and effort sculpting them. Then they were neglected till their heads fell off.

At Korean universities, I routinely witness kids throwing trash on the sidewalks, and on the floors of the halls and classrooms. I have even seen them spit inside the buildings. My wife once entered a Keimyung University restroom to find a pile of feces in the middle of the floor. We have seen custodians pour soapless water onto unswept floors, slosh the water around with a dirty mop, and call it cleaning. In their defense, I suppose there is little point in putting too much effort into a floor that people will feel at liberty to spit on.

This sort of behavior is not limited to university campuses. Downtown areas are typically covered in litter. Businesses advertise by strewing flyers all over sidewalks and foot streets. By the way, how do you find a trash can in downtown Daegu? It is the empty container surrounded by heaps of trash. Don’t confuse them with the containers overflowing with trash. Those are planters.

The irony of this is every Korean home we have visited has been meticulously clean. It seems the Korean world is divided into two regions: my house and my dump.

But there is hope on the horizon. The park near our apartment is often visited by groups of volunteers – most of them elderly – who put on matching vests and walk around picking up trash. Compared to the litter-filled downtown area, the park is quite pristine.

Every Korean man must give 2 years of his life serving in the military; women are exempt. I would like to see a change. I would suggest that every Korean woman be required to give two years of cleaning service to her country. Not only would the country look better – I believe these future mothers would raise kids who understand that littering is not acceptable. Until that day, watch where you step in the Land of the Morning Calm.