A security guard at Cheongye Byeoksan Apartments turns on a wall-mounted air conditioner installed in a guard post. [Seongdong-gu]
A security guard at Cheongye Byeoksan Apartments turns on a wall-mounted air conditioner installed in a guard post. [Seongdong-gu]

Around 1 p.m. Thursday, with temperatures topping 30 degrees Celsius and sweat forming even while standing still, a security guard at Cheongye Byeoksan Apartments in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, stepped into Guard Post No. 7 after finishing outdoor rounds. He switched on the wall-mounted air conditioner, and the roughly 10-square-meter booth cooled down almost immediately. Park Yong-ju, 76, who has worked as a guard at the complex for 11 years, said residents voted at a meeting seven years ago to install a wall-mounted AC unit and a refrigerator in each post. "At first I felt a little sorry about turning it on, so I only used it when it was extremely hot," Park said. "Now I turn it on whenever I feel hot, without worrying about what anyone thinks."

Park can now run the air conditioner without hesitation, largely thanks to a cooling-cost support project that Seongdong-gu district office introduced in 2021 for workers and rest facilities in apartment complexes.

The district launched the initiative after learning that apartment security guards and janitors were holding back on cooling equipment during summer out of concern over electricity costs. Under the program, the district covers up to 20,000 won ($13) per air conditioner per month for July and August each year.

According to the district office Saturday, Cheongye Byeoksan Apartments — home to 822 households — has nine air conditioners in total: one in each of its seven guard posts and one each in two janitors' rest rooms. The complex receives 360,000 won in cooling subsidies per year, calculated at 20,000 won per unit per month over two months.

Heo Jeong-won, 60, who has worked as a janitor at the complex for three years, said a resident noticed her sweating outside and warned her she would get seriously ill working like that. After a residents' meeting, an air conditioner was installed in the janitors' rest room in June. "Before that we only had a fan, which is useless on days this hot," she said. "Since the AC was put in, I can actually rest and cool down on my breaks — it has made a huge difference."

Electricity costs for guards and janitors had long been bundled into residents' maintenance reserve funds, which made workers reluctant to run cooling equipment freely for fear of complaints. The apartment building manager said some residents had filed complaints after spotting air conditioners running in guard posts, calling it a waste of energy. "But with the district's cooling-cost support, workers can now turn on the AC without feeling self-conscious," the manager said. "Most importantly, worker satisfaction has gone up, and so has productivity."

Since launching the project in 2021, the district has run it every year. Last year it provided a total of 23.78 million won in cooling subsidies to 133 apartment complexes. This year the district has set aside a budget of 26 million won — enough to cover about 650 air conditioner units.

In addition to the cooling-cost program, the district also supports the installation and improvement of rest facilities for apartment security guards and janitors.

A Seongdong-gu official said the district is pursuing a range of policies to improve working conditions and welfare for essential workers in apartment complexes, including paying special allowances during the Lunar New Year holiday. "We will continue to identify and develop programs so that essential workers can do their jobs in safer and more comfortable environments," the official said.


ikson@heraldcorp.com