41.2 degrees: South Korea hit by worst heatwave in decades

South Korea faced an unprecedented heat wave on Monday, Aug. 3, as record temperatures hit multiple areas and heat-related deaths were reported, Yonhap News reported from Seoul.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said temperatures reached a record 40.9 C in the southeastern city of Daegu. The agency said Daegu surpassed 40 C for the first time since Aug. 1, 1942.

Goryeong County, about 230 kilometers southeast of Seoul, recorded the nation’s highest temperature of the day at 41.2 C at 3:37 p.m., according to the KMA. In Yangsan, also in the southeast, temperatures peaked at 38 C on Monday after reaching 42.5 C on Sunday, the highest recorded there since modern weather observations began in 1904, Yonhap said.

Severe heat wave warnings remained in effect across southwestern South Korea. The KMA said additional severe heat wave warnings would take effect at 11 a.m. Tuesday in southern Seoul, parts of Gyeonggi Province around the capital, and Jangseong and Gokseong counties in South Jeolla Province.

One criterion for the severe warning is a perceived temperature of at least 38 C for more than a day. Yonhap said Tuesday’s expanded warnings would mark the first time the highest-level heat warning takes effect in the greater Seoul area since the warning system was introduced in June.

Yonhap said the extreme heat triggered health emergencies nationwide. A man in his 40s died Monday morning in Incheon, west of Seoul, with his body temperature nearing 40 C after being sent to a hospital the previous day, and two farmers in their 60s and 80s were found dead Sunday in South Chungcheong Province. The KMA attributed the prolonged heat to overlapping high-pressure systems over the Korean Peninsula and strong, direct sunlight under clear skies.