♪ winter mornings in seoul fall below the freezing point.

in south korean towns, many people can be seen carrying around large stacks of cardboard boxes. these people make a living picking up the discarded boxes, but they're not homeless. a majority of them are seniors over the age of 65 who held full-time jobs until they retired. poveverty among south korea's elderly population has become a serious problem. many receive little preparation due to their lack of preparation for retiremement or delays in t social welfare systems. some 60% of them are entirely

without aid. old age prevents them from getting other jobs, leaving many to gather recycleables like cardboard. around 66,000 senior citizens resort to collecting these scraps to survive. these citizens seek financial stability any way they can. this episode follows their efforts to get by in a society that has let them down. with a population of three million, south korea's third

largest city is incheon. one man sets out gathering cardboard boxes on the streets. he turned 69 earlier this year. it has many competitors in collecting the recycleables.

some people hide cardboard in designated spots for him to take. >> because prices are determined by the weight of the boxes, it

takes a lot of work to make any amount of money. he also picks up empty glass and bottles. it should be the local government's job, but seniors are eager to pick up even unseparated materials. after he's gathered a certain amount, he heads to a waste collection company. carts are required to be pulled on the streets rather than sidewalks. this inconvenience results in

numerous cases of the elderly being hit by cars, some even resulting in death. he brought along all the cardboard he gathered over the course of the day. the weight of the cardboard itself was 100 kilograms. for all his work, he was given a mere $3. his earnings for the day weren't even a tenth of the minimum wage in south korea.

recently the resale price of cardboard has continued to drop. demand is shrinking due to decreased exports of waste paper to china, with paper from overseas growing more popular.

he lives in a basement floor of a rental apartment, the cheapest section of the building. rent is half that of the other floors due to the total lack of sunlight.

he gets $165 a month in pension, but it all goes to covering rent. having contributed to the national pension system starting in his 50s, his income is limited. now he gets by on the public assistance while living on provided rice and other foods.

he had been running a karoeke shop. the incident caused his only daughter's marriage to be called off and the family cut ties with him. despair and loneliness led him to excesessive drinking, which d his depression.

he looks forward to just one thing each week, buying lottery tickets.

south korea completeded its universal pension system in 1999, latater thann many other countries. the concept of social welfare failed to took root due to the belief that children are responsible for care of their parents. but recent recessions have made it difficult for people to provide adequate care for the elderly. as a result, some seniors left without savings have little choice but to gather cardboard. this district is in inch eon,

gyeyang. south korea's first association for elderly foragers was launched here four years ago. cardboard boxes brought here are delivered to collection companies by truck. it eliminates the need to deliver them individually, boosting efficiency. 28 seniors are members of the group. he founded this group as one of the forms of charity work in which he's engaged. he recalls coming up with this idea after a string of

unpleasant incidents. the association works to improve seniors work environment by encouraging unity among its members.

>> some companies are creating new systems to support their senior citizens. each have cared a bundle

carrying pristine cardboard to a certain location. this company makes a special effort to contribute to the livelihoods of the fox foragers. it pays six times the market rate to five registered seniors. >> the company makes use of the

boxes by turning old cardboard into canvass. artists then use the canvass i new works of art, which are sold online and at flee markets. rather than simply recycling materials, they add value to effectively commercialize the final product. in addition to itspurchases, the company provides older workers with job opportunities.

currently seven seniors work 32 hours a month for $250. some of them are former foragers.

>> in south korea cardboard gathering is considered a low status job. more than half of the foragers are women.

one woman was hard at work carrying a load of boxes to a company in incheon. she estimates she usually brings 300 kilograms of cardboard. with little pension to live from, she supports herself and her disabled husband by selling the recycleables. she picks up anything and everything that can be sold.

her daughter who lives in this neighborhood let her know a large number of books were dumped nearby. her three children initially opposed her involvement in this line of work. she had borrowed land, but fell into debt after purchasing agriculture equipment. she moved to incheon and paid

her debts through 20 years of cleaning jobs. she worked hard at her job while raising a family, but she doesn't want to depend on her children who have their own financial concerns.

>> she has yet another reason she feels compelled to continue working. her second son's wife suffered a stroke and was left with lasting disabilities. so when her husband took their daughter-in-law in their home to limit the cost of nursing care. she looks after her while her son works hard to pay off their debts. the following day, she prepared to sell the cardboard boxes she

had gathered over the course of three days. it took an hour just to pile them up.

>> at times she runs against traffic to take shortcuts. for elderly women, the job is anything but safe.

three days of work provided just $8. so plans to continue her efforts, even if cardboard prices continue falling.

>> impoverished seniors continue to gather cardboard for themselves and the sake of their families. perhaps one day their years of hard labor will be recycled into a better way of life.

>> neaearly half of w workers ad the e world are at risk of losig their livevelihood. new figures show huge losses in the u.s., germany, and nigeria. you are watching al jazeera live from london. coronavirus death government00 as the includes care home fatalities for the first time. brazil's supreme court blocks president bolsonaro from

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