This playground angel keeps Seoul’s slides sparkling

Most people walk past a grimy playground slide or a dirt-caked park bench without a second thought. Cho Hee-jae stops to see if it needs cleaning.

Since May, the 30-year-old has spent his spare time traveling across Seoul and northern Gyeonggi Province to scrub apartment playgrounds and other public facilities, paying for the work himself.

“I would pass dirty playgrounds and other public facilities and think, ‘I wish someone would clean those,’” Cho said in an interview with The Korea Herald on Sept. 9. “Then I thought, why not do it myself?”

Cho turned that thought into action and began posting before-and-after videos on Instagram under the name “gonggong jeonghwa yeonguso,” which translates to public cleanup lab. In the videos, he scrubs layers of dust and grime from seesaws, slides, railings, signs, fire hydrants and public bicycles.

Cho, who runs a small real estate business with his older brother, started with a handrail along a hiking trail. Finding the work satisfying, he began looking for other things to clean.

“I am just an ordinary person who saw something dirty and wanted to clean it. I wasn’t trying to make a statement. I enjoy cleaning, so I decided to give it a try,” he said.

Cho’s one-year-old niece was part of the inspiration. Thinking about where she would play made him want to help keep those open spaces clean.

He uses Naver Maps to find playgrounds, checking street-view images of apartment complexes and saving possible locations. He then visits several sites to see which need the most attention. Once he has chosen a playground, he asks the apartment management office for permission to clean it and sets a date.

Some apartment managers welcome his offer. Others say the complex will handle the cleaning itself. When they decline, Cho moves on to another site.

Cho goes out to clean once or twice a week, sometimes visiting two or three playgrounds in one trip. He cleans about 10 sites a month, spending 30 to 40 minutes on each piece of equipment. The 30-year-old says the volunteer work costs him about 300,000 won ($220) a month in fuel, plus roughly 100,000 won on detergent and other supplies. Because children use the playgrounds, Cho avoids bleach and other harsh chemicals and opts for environmentally friendly cleaners.

One project Cho remembers vividly was at an apartment complex outside Seoul where few children lived. He cleaned the playground anyway.

“Even if nobody uses it, it still looks better when it’s clean,” he said. As it turned out, people did use it. Cho later learned from comments on his video that older residents sometimes stopped to sit there on their way home. They were glad to see it cleaned.

For Cho, that was enough.

He takes the same view when a playground gets dirty again. Once, he returned to find that a slide he had cleaned was already grimy. He was disappointed, but he did not feel his work was wasted.

“A child might see that it’s clean and stop to play,” he said. “Even if they enjoy it just once, or it stays clean for only a day or two, I am happy and satisfied. I have fond memories of playing at playgrounds when I was young, so I hope they keep that too.”

His before-and-after videos have drawn messages of support and prompted some viewers to pick up cleaning supplies themselves.

Cho once promised on his profile to clean one more site for every five new followers. He said the pledge was partly a playful way to reach more people, but he would keep cleaning regardless of his follower count.

At least three people have told Cho they cleaned playgrounds after watching his posts. Encouraged by the support, Cho hopes to invite his Instagram followers to join him in the future when he works in their neighborhoods.

“Doing something good quietly is worthwhile,” he said. “But when people see it, they might think, ‘Someone else is doing this, so maybe I can too.’ I think small actions could make a change.”

Cho’s work is making a difference, but he isn’t trying to do the job of local authorities. He also doesn’t want his videos to prompt complaints or make others feel pressured to clean. He simply hopes they will encourage people to pay more attention to the shared spaces they pass every day.

“I can’t ask people to join me,” Cho said. “I just hope they will take a little more interest in these places. We played there when we were young, and the next generation should be able to enjoy them too.”

For now, Cho’s goal is to clean 100 public facilities. After that, he has no particular plan.

“I think I will keep doing what I have done all along in the future. Spot something dirty, ask permission and get to work.”