Cooling Off in Water and Forests: Citizens Flock to Beat the Heat

[Anchor]

While the weather was hot enough to make people reluctant to step outside, many citizens still headed out to find urban summer retreats.

Reporter Im Jihyeon brings us the scenes of the holiday amid the scorching heat wave.

[Reporter]

Refreshing streams of water pour down at the Incheon Grand Park water playground.

Amid the heat wave hovering around 33°C (91°F), children ride slides and hide under cascading water to forget the heat.

With heat wave advisories issued for the greater Seoul area and most parts of the country, downtown parks featuring water play facilities bustled with citizens trying to cool down.

The maximum water depth here is 25 cm.

Thanks to the shallow depth, children can play safely, attracting many visitors with their families.

[Lim So-yeon, Lee Jae-ha, Lee Se-ha / Bupyeong-gu, Incheon: It is too hot to stay outside, and the kids were getting restless, so we had no choice but to come out. We looked for a place to play in the water. How much fun is it? (It is a lot of fun!)]

Vacationers flocked to the park's artificial stream as well.

Dense trees provide shade, and the cool breeze blowing along the valley makes it an ideal spot to escape the blazing sun.

[Park Ju-hong, Bae Su-jin, Park Bo-ra / Bupyeong-gu, Incheon: The cool air conditioning breeze is nice, but I think we chose this place because we were looking for a space where we could play in the water like this.]

At Busan's Haeundae Beach, which saw record-breaking heat waves of around 40°C (104°F), a crowd of over 200,000 people gathered over the first weekend of August, creating a sea of people. Meanwhile, foreign tourists visiting the West Sea rolled around in mud flats set up at the beach to blow away the sweltering heat.

[Scott Catherine, Edgar Clara / Australia: It is really fun. We love the various activities, especially the experiences utilizing mud and water. You should definitely come to the festival. You will have a really great time.]

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety noted that jellyfish stings at beaches occur most frequently in August, when summer vacations reach their peak. The ministry advised that if symptoms of a jellyfish sting, such as a stinging sensation on the skin, occur, people should immediately get out of the water and ask for help from safety personnel or call 119.

(Camera reporting: Lim Dong-guk, Park Eun-seong from KNN, Choi Woon-gi from TJB | Video editing: Kim Jin-won)

※