A volunteer worker provides chilled bottled tap water to senior citizens at Tapgol Park in Seoul, July 13. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
As summer temperatures climb across the capital, municipal authorities are turning to a straightforward strategy to keep vulnerable residents and outdoor workers safe from heat-related illness: free, chilled bottles of tap water served at 5 degrees Celsius.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that it launched 18 "Arisu Sharing Refrigerators" across nine key hubs citywide, distributing cold bottled municipal water — branded as Arisu — through Sept. 30. The program targets people facing prolonged exposure to extreme heat, including delivery workers, outdoor laborers, elderly residents and homeless people.
The initiative arrives amid a sharp rise in extreme heat events across Korea.
Heat illness cases nationwide surged to 4,460 last year, quadrupling over the past five years. In Seoul alone, health authorities logged 378 cases of heat-related illness last summer, with heat exhaustion accounting 48 percent. The vast majority of these incidents occurred outdoors along roads and in public parks.
