Heat kills 16 in South Korea this summer: interior ministry

SEOUL: South Korea’s summer heat has killed 16 people so far this year, the interior ministry said Tuesday, as the nation swelters in a wave of searing weather.

Between May 15 and and August 2 a total of 2,025 people have suffered heat-related illnesses, of which 16 people have died, a ministry statement said.

South Korea’s heat record has been broken three times over the past week, with the latest all-time high set at 42.5C in the city of Yangsan on Sunday.

The whole of Seoul was under the highest-level “severe heatwave warning” alert Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to soar again close to 40C.

“Extreme, life-threatening heat is forecast,” the weather agency said in a statement Tuesday.

Yangsan has been the epicentre of the ongoing heatwave, where temperatures exceeded 40C for a fifth consecutive day on Sunday.

Much of South Korea placed under heat warnings, with many cities seeing temperatures climb into the high 30C.

More than 20 localities were on Sunday under emergency heatwave alerts, a new warning category introduced this year to better address rising temperatures.

An emergency alert is issued when areas experiencing a heatwave are forecast to hit perceived temperatures of 38C or an actual temperature of 39C for one day.

KMA data show the average annual number of heatwave days in the country has more than doubled to 19 over the past five years, from eight in the 1970s.

A heatwave day is defined as one with a maximum temperature of at least 33C, while a tropical night is one when the overnight low remains 25C or above.

Scientists warn that extreme weather events such as heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of human-induced climate change.