Record Heat Hits Korean Peninsula as Seoul Issues Maximum Alert

Overview

• Yangsan reached 42.5°C on Sunday, the highest temperature recorded in South Korea’s weather records, and the heat has since spread into western areas including the Seoul metropolitan region.
• Official counts of heat-related fatalities have climbed into the high teens with authorities reporting 19 deaths and more than 2,000 people treated for heat illnesses since mid‑May.
• The Korea Meteorological Administration issued its first severe heat alert for parts of Seoul and Gyeonggi before expanding the warning to the whole capital while local governments opened cooled shelters and canceled outdoor events.
• Grid operators and emergency services activated energy‑management measures and stepped up welfare checks for high‑risk groups such as the elderly, low‑income single‑room tenants and people living on the streets.
• Longer trends from KMA data show annual heatwave days have more than doubled to about 19 days in recent years, a change experts link to human‑driven climate change and the current El Niño with officials watching tropical systems that could alter the heat’s duration.