Celebrity's good deed from 4 years ago goes viral again: picked up trash with bare hands after garbage truck spill

A video of broadcaster Hong Seok-cheon rushing to help clean up trash that spilled from a garbage truck four years ago is going viral again, drawing renewed attention online.

The footage, which shows Hong picking up garbage bags that had fallen onto a road, has been recirculating on social media and online communities in recent days.

It was filmed around 10 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2022, on a road near Gongdeok Station in Seoul.

Several garbage bags fell from a collection vehicle traveling ahead, and a sanitation worker quickly got out of the truck to deal with the spill.

Hong was riding in the passenger seat of a vehicle following the garbage truck. After seeing what happened, he asked the driver to stop and got out of the car.

Hong began picking up the trash with his bare hands alongside the sanitation worker, stuffing it back into the bags. Once the situation was under control, he exchanged greetings with the worker and returned to the vehicle with a smile.

The video had already attracted attention when it first surfaced in 2022. The person who originally posted it online wrote that Hong had asked them not to share it on social media, but that they wanted to anyway. "I was moved by his warmth throughout the whole thing, and I felt ashamed that I didn't get out to help alongside him," the post read. The writer also recalled other acts of kindness Hong had performed without seeking recognition — including pushing the cart of an elderly man collecting cardboard boxes and regularly buying flowers from a street vendor.

Online commenters responded warmly, with reactions including "He's the real deal," "This is something you can watch over and over," "A classic still moves you even when you know how it ends," and "He gets cooler with age."