Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Radius]

I forgot.

[Wangja]

They're all over the place!

Han gang dae ro has them at about 50 metre spacings!

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

The official reason that I've got from many is that garbage collection isn't funded by taxes, but by the sales of those special trash bags.

I think it's because people throw cigarettes in them, though. I've seen 3 of those rare trash cans with smoke coming out of them so far.

[Zackback]

That's just it. The public areas are just one big trash can.

[yellowdove]

In Daejeon, they removed the trash cans from public places because instead of people using the proper methods of trash disposal (official trash bags) they just stuck their junk either in, or around the public cans. The city had the same amount of garbage, with far less revenue. I'm sure it's the exact same problem around the country.

[Swampfox10mm]

Because nearly a decade ago, they switched to the plastic bags you pay for. People protested by dumping their trash in the public bins. It was not uncommon to see a public bin buried in a mountain of trash. At first, the gov't retaliated by moving near all of the bins. Many bins ended up with big, konky cameras mounted above them, complete with a speaker that was monitored 24 hrs/day. If people tried to dump their trash in their, the police would squak at them and scold them from the loudspeaker. It was sort of hilarious because these encounters ended-up on the news. Then most bins were just removed.

About the same time, terror threats began to surface elsewhere in the world, so the gov't removed the bins in the subways, claiming that someone could put a bomb in there (as you know, we have soooo many terrorists here). We had virtually no way to throw trash away in the subways, unless you used the garbage can that might be next to a snack shack. You'd catch an earful of angry hate if you dumped even the smallest wrapper purchased elsewhere in one of those cans.

Since that time, the gov't has added trash cans near the subway turn-stiles. There have been a few public bins added outside, but it's nowhere near where it should be. Basically, nobody wants to pay for it.

[atwood]

I think nobody wants to pay for picking up the trash. Improvements (in some cases that may be debated) such as street lights, renovated sidewalks and parks, new landscaping are happening all the time.

What is very rarely happening is regular maintenance of such improvements and public facilities as a whole. It's open to conjecture why this is, although following the money may provide some answers.

[yellowdove]

But then companies are allowed to throw flyers and business cards on the streets, and the cities pay for the ajummas to come clean up every morning. *sigh* I love the job creation for the ajummas, but why the flyers? Are they really that necessary?

[Swampfox10mm]

The old men and women who clean in my area are not paid. They are volunteers.

[T-J]

[Swampfox10mm]