"I Love Korea So Much, But... I Had No Idea It Would Be This Bad": Foreigners Surprised

[Anchor]

The scorching heat that baked the city all day still hasn't cooled down. Seoul has now experienced 15 consecutive days of tropical nights, and most parts of the country are expected to face another sleepless night today (August 6). Let's connect with our reporter at Myeong-dong in Seoul.

Reporter Dong Eunyeong, the city center must be much hotter than the outskirts. Is it still very hot right now?

[Reporter]

I have been out here on the streets of Myeong-dong for four hours.

The intense sunlight during the mid-day was truly exhausting.

Right now, humid winds keep blowing, making it feel as if I am standing right in front of an air conditioner outdoor unit.

It will soon be 8:00 PM, and the temperature here is recording 34.3°C (94°F).

Tropical night advisories—issued when overnight temperatures are expected to stay above 25°C to 26°C (77°F to 79°F)—are currently in effect for most parts of the country.

Tonight will likely be another night that is hard to endure without cooling appliances.

Seoul has seen tropical nights for 15 days, and Jeju for a staggering 30 days.

The national average number of tropical nights stands at 12.6 days, breaking the all-time record for the same period.

[Anchor]

Even on such a hot night, there still seem to be many tourists visible in Myeong-dong.

[Reporter]

Despite the sweltering weather, many foreign tourists visiting Seoul could be seen on the streets of Myeong-dong.

A street vendor I met said that the number of tourists visiting here is similar to usual.

When I asked them what they thought of Seoul's weather, they said they truly love Korea, but gave this response:

[Sameera and Sandu / Sri Lanka: It's too hot. Korea is much hotter than our Sri Lanka. We sweat a lot just walking around, and we think it's better to stay home with the AC on rather than keep going outside.]

[Lilit, Maria, and Lilia / Armenia: (The parasol) was bought in Korea. The sunlight here is really, really strong. In our country, we don't usually use umbrellas, but here, umbrellas are really useful. We've been using it continuously since we arrived three days ago.]

Today's highest temperatures were 33°C (91°F) in Tokyo, Japan, 34°C (93°F) in Taipei, Taiwan, and 35°C (95°F) in Bangkok, Thailand, while Seoul hit 37.9°C (100°F).

There is even a saying going around that Seoul combines the heat island effect of Tokyo, the humidity of Taiwan, and the tropical nights of Bangkok.

Tourist information guides in red uniforms known as the Mobile Tourist Information Center in tourist hotspots like Myeong-dong and Hongdae have also temporarily suspended operations due to the extreme heat.

(Video reporting: Joo Yong-jin, Lee Chan-soo | Video editing: Lee So-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.