S.Korea pensioner woes signal China may face hurdles

Seoul, South Korea resident Cho Yong-moon, 75, spends nine hours a day, five days a week using his free pass on the city subway to shuttle parcels back and forth between clothing and jewelry stores.

With pension payments falling short of living costs for many of the elderly, he's among a growing number of senior citizens seen trekking in and out of metro stations in the South Korean capital carrying boxes for "silver service" courier businesses.

"This job isn't easy, especially when I'm walking up the subway stairs carrying heavy stuff," said Cho, who earns about 500,000 won ($430) a month, which is about half of what he and his wife need to live on. "There are limited seats for the elderly in the Seoul subways and I often have to stand for hours."