Authorities in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, declared an emergency Tuesday over an "extreme heat wave," as the country grapples with deadly temperatures that have broken the national record.
The southeastern city of Yangsan reached 42.5 degrees Celsius (108.5 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday afternoon, the highest temperature measured in 122 years of weather observations. The heat is now shifting west toward the densely populated capital, home to more than 9 million people. Seoul was forecast to reach 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) Tuesday, followed by three sweltering days with temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
South Korea has recorded 16 heat-related deaths, while more than 2,000 people have been treated for heat-related illnesses since May, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting Tuesday morning, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on officials to take all necessary measures to protect people's daily lives and inspect the country's electricity systems as demand for air conditioning surges. "We need to make efforts to fundamentally overhaul the national crisis management system, since this extreme weather is becoming the norm," Lee said.
Seoul authorities held an emergency meeting Monday and launched a series of initiatives to combat the heat and reduce health risks. It is the first time the capital has been placed under a severe heat wave warning under a new system introduced this year as the government seeks to improve its response to rising temperatures. Nurses are checking on as many as 63,000 residents considered particularly vulnerable, including older people and those with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
In an effort to curb rising urban temperatures in Seoul, a fleet of 200 trucks is spraying water over nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) of roads. The trucks are operating as many as six times a day in the worst-affected areas.
Outdoor workers are bearing the brunt of the oppressive heat. A construction worker in Seoul, identified by The Korea Times only by his surname, Kim, said: "We take a 10-minute break every hour, but there isn't even a fan here, so all we can do is sit in the shade. I sweat so much that my clothes rub my skin raw wherever they touch."
Lee, 55, who collects shopping carts in the parking lot of a supermarket in Gwangmyeong, said conditions were brutal. "The lack of ventilation makes it feel like being inside a sauna," he said.
The Korea Meteorological Administration attributed the heat wave to overlapping high-pressure systems over the Korean Peninsula, combined with intense, direct sunlight under clear skies.
