American man on a freezing Korean mountain: Story shared on how a US citizen cleaned up garbage on weekends

A US national living in Incheon has been picking up garbage at a local mountain on his days off, according to a post written on the website of the city's Bupyeong-gu district.

The 65-year-old surnamed Park, who wrote the post, said he saw the man picking up garbage at the entrance of Jangsusan in Bupyeong on the morning of Jan. 17. The man told Park that if he puts the trash in one place, his friend can call the district officials to have them pick it up with a truck.

The man is an American citizen who has been living in South Korea since 2024, and he has been picking up garbage on the hiking trail regularly, mostly on Saturdays.

"I asked if he works in the environmental field, and he said no. He must have been tired on the weekend, and seeing his face reddened from the cold made me feel ashamed of myself (for not caring)," Park wrote. Park exchanged phone numbers with the American man and promised to join his cleaning efforts.

Incheon saw subzero weather on Jan. 17, which was a Saturday, with the temperature falling to as low as minus 7 degrees Celsius in the morning.