South Korean Govt: ‘Wear Thick Underwear’

The government of South Korea has ordered all government employees to start wearing thick underwear—the high-tech thermal kind preferred—to stave off quickly rising energy consumption levels.

As of January 17^th, public servants in South Korea must turn off all heating devices from 11:00am to 12:00am and 5:00pm to 6:00pm. In addition, at all other times the heating cannot be set any higher than 18-degrees Celsius, or 64-degrees Fahrenheit.

It’s an emergency plan designed to prevent a “severe electricity shortage,” ministry official Roh Keon-Ki told Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporters.

The temperature in South Korea has been so cold—earlier this month it dropped to a record low of -17.8-degrees Celsius, or -.04-degrees Fahrenheit, which by the way is cold enough to make even this former-Midwestern chap shiver—that the use of heaters rose to an all-time high.

Ergo, to prevent a possible blackout, which would be devastating, the government is encouraging its employees to be extra frugal with their energy use. Long johns are okay, but thermal underwear is recommended. Suffice it to say, if employees are going to waste energy to stay warm, they better waste their own energy, i.e., batteries.