South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has declared an emergency response to the extreme heatwave sweeping across the nation. A crisis management meeting was convened on Thursday, August 6, as the capital city of Seoul entered its highest-ever phase of temperature threat.
Forecasters on Thursday predicted temperatures in the capital would reach 39 degrees Celsius, a figure close to Seoul's historical record of 39.6 degrees set in August 2018.
"Extreme heat of a magnitude we have never experienced continues day after day. Conditions that we previously only saw in foreign news have now become our reality," the president stated at the cabinet meeting, emphasizing the scale of the crisis.
Lee Jae-myung ordered ministries and local authorities to mobilize all available resources until the heat subsides. The directive included enhancing the protection of citizens' lives and health, especially for vulnerable groups, and mandating rest breaks for outdoor workers during the hottest hours of the day. Furthermore, the president instructed a review of the country's power grids, which are under increased strain due to widespread air conditioner usage.
Nighttime temperatures in the capital barely dropped below 30 degrees Celsius, transforming residential areas into an unbearable environment. Desperate residents sought refuge in streams and rivers, crowded shopping centers, and cool government buildings. The extreme heat forced the Korean Baseball Organization to cancel all professional matches for two days, August 5 and 6, for the first time in its history.
During one of the recent matches, a 25-year-old fan lost consciousness, and another 25 spectators required emergency medical attention due to heatstroke, prompting the league's management to re-evaluate safety measures.
Meteorologists attribute the unprecedented intensity of the heat to a combination of factors. Primarily, a persistent anticyclone has settled over the region.
Additionally, the influence of Typhoon Dolphin, though it did not directly threaten Korea, still impacted regional wind systems: depending on its trajectory, the high-pressure area could intensify, increasing both temperature and air humidity.
Particularly unique is the temperature record set in Yangsan, in the country's southeast, where the air warmed to 42.5 degrees Celsius on August 3—the highest temperature in 122 years of meteorological observations in the region. The extreme heatwave is now spreading westward, threatening to engulf the capital and its surrounding areas. The duration of this anomaly remains uncertain and will depend on the evolving meteorological situation.
