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View all search resultsSouth Korea's president orders all-out response to heatwave
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People shelter from the heat under umbrellas in Seoul on August 4, 2026. South Korea's summer heat has killed 16 people so far this year, the interior ministry said August 4, as the nation swelters in a wave of searing weather. (AFP/Greg Baker)
S
outh Korea's heatwave is expected to peak over Seoul on Thursday, with the capital forecast to hit 39 degrees Celsius in a spell of extreme weather already blamed for more than 20 deaths.
"Extreme heat on a scale we have never experienced is continuing day after day. Heatwave conditions once seen only in foreign news reports have now become our reality," President Lee Jae Myung told a heatwave response meeting on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Lee ordered ministries and local governments to mobilize all available personnel and resources until the heatwave eases, stressing protection of lives and safety, stronger safeguards for vulnerable residents and stricter enforcement of rest breaks for outdoor workers during the hottest hours.
The forecast temperature would bring Seoul close to its record high of 39.6 C, set in August 2018, during the country's last historic heatwave.
The warning came as Seoul endured another stifling night before what forecasters say could be one of the hottest days in the city's modern history.
Temperatures in some neighborhoods barely slipped below 30 C overnight, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), while media showed crowds seeking refuge in streams, department stores and other air-conditioned spaces.
The Korea Baseball Organization canceled all 10 games scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday after some spectators fainted in the heat, media reported, including one fan who collapsed during a game in Incheon.
During Tuesday's game between the SSG Landers and LG Twins in Incheon, a male spectator collapsed from a suspected heat-related illness, prompting a nine-minute suspension before he was taken to hospital by ambulance, an SSG official told AFP.
SSG Landers said 25 spectators were treated for heat-related illnesses during the game.
A total of 2,221 people suffered heat-related illnesses, including an estimated 19 deaths, between May 15 and August 3, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
Meteorologists say Typhoon Dolphin, despite posing no direct threat to South Korea, may be contributing to the scorching conditions, Reuters reported.
The KMA said Dolphin has helped strengthen easterly winds that cross the Korean Peninsula's mountainous spine and descend over western regions as hot, dry air, intensifying heat in Seoul and elsewhere.
