Japan<\/a> Times. \u201cI can\u2019t think of anything else to do other than stay in air-conditioned places like home, shopping malls and cafes.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2026-07-31T112929Z_335726632_RC2XOMAJAXHY_RTRMADP_3_SOUTHKOREA-WEATHER-HEATWAVE.JPG\")
People cool off in front of fans during a heatwave in Seoul, South Korea (Reuters)<\/p>\n
The Korea \u200bMeteorological Administration said the extreme heat across the \u200bcountry was \u200bcaused by the \u2060simultaneous influence of the North Pacific High and the Tibetan High pressure systems, which have \u200bcovered the Korean Peninsula like a lid, \u200btrapping heat \u2060and allowing temperatures to build across much of the country while limiting cloud cover.<\/p>\n
The interior ministry is preparing to dispatch director general-level officials to oversee arrangements and operations in the Seoul Metropolitan area.<\/p>\n
They would be deployed to assess local heatwave responses and identify areas requiring additional support, Yonhap reported.<\/p>\n
A total of 1,781 people suffered heat-related incidents between 15-31 July, according to government data. As many as 13 people died from heat-related illness during the period, it said.<\/p>\n
![\"Women](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2285284201...jpeg\")
Women use portable fans to cool off at the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on July 13, 2026. South Korea issued its first-ever emergency heatwave alert on July 12, under a new warning system launched this year, advising people to halt outdoor activities and keep cool (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n
Temperatures climbed to 40.3C in Gyeongju by 2.14pm on Saturday, marking the city’s first 40C reading of the year. It was also the highest temperature recorded there since August 2018, when the mercury reached 39.8C.<\/p>\n
In response to the extreme heat, the government activated level 2 of its disaster response headquarters at 1pm, stepping up nationwide emergency measures. <\/p>\n
It is the first time the level 2, on a three-tier emergency response system with level 3 being the highest, has been triggered since August 2023 and only the second time since heatwaves were officially classified as natural disasters.<\/p>\n
The average annual number of heatwaves in the country has doubled to 19 over the past five years, from eight in 1970s, according to the Korea \u200bMeteorological Administration.<\/p>\n
A heatwave day in South Korea is defined as one with a maximum temperature of at least 33 C.<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s professional baseball league cancelled a game in Changwon after the city\u2019s temperature rose to 39.5C during the day. It was the second consecutive cancellation of the game in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision was made with the safety and health of spectators and players as the top priority, as a severe heat wave warning remains in effect for the Changwon area,\u201d said the Korea Baseball Organisation in a statement.<\/p>\n
Neighbouring Japan is also enduring an intense heatwave<\/a>, with temperatures approaching 40C across parts of the country. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that the extreme heat would persist through Sunday, including in earthquake-hit Kumamoto Prefecture, where daytime highs reached 37.5C and temperatures are forecast to climb to around 40C in the coming days. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[8695,31,33,16232],"class_list":["post-106905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-south-korea","tag-horizontal","tag-korea","tag-south-korea","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"South](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2287992237...jpeg\")
South Korea registered its highest temperature since records began more than a century ago on August 2 (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n