Seoul Hits Record High of 37.9°C This Year… Downtown Turns Red

[Anchor]

Record-breaking heatwaves are continuing day after day. In Seoul, where temperatures have exceeded 36°C for five consecutive days, daytime temperatures rose close to 38°C, breaking the record for the highest temperature this summer once again.

Reporter Bae Seong-jae toured the downtown area of Seoul, which boiled all day long.

[Reporter]

Shortly after noon, I climbed Namsan Mountain in Seoul.

Looking through a thermal imaging camera, the entire downtown area glowed red like a heat island.

Checking the temperatures, most of them exceeded 40°C.

The rooftops of buildings, heated intensely, surpassed a staggering 60°C (140°F).

[Lee Woo-chae / Dobong-gu, Seoul: When I went out to the city, the asphalt was heated up and heat was rising intensely. Coming up here, it is cool and nice.]

[Park Jun-yong / Resident abroad: I keep using a towel and I don't know how many t-shirts I change per day. This weather is truly driving me crazy.]

I headed into the downtown area.

The high-rise buildings and roads in Yeouido were heated up fiercely.

Except for areas like Yeouido Park, which is surrounded by the Han River and lush trees, the entire downtown area was dyed red.

The heat on the asphalt roads well exceeded 70°C (158°F).

Unable to withstand the heat, a vehicle was seen suddenly stalled in the middle of the road.

[(Sir, why is your car doing this?) The clutch is not working... (Is it because of the heat?) Yes, because of the heat...]

Even the bottom of a fountain, where water is continuously sprayed, exceeded 30°C (86°F) amid the scorching heat.

The official highest temperature in Seoul, recorded in Jongno-gu, Seoul, was 37.9°C (100.2°F), making it the hottest day of the year.

This is the 5th highest record in history since observations began.

Yongsan-gu recorded 39.9°C (103.8°F), the highest temperature nationwide.

Guro-gu and Geumcheon-gu in Seoul also approached 39°C (102.2°F), and outside of Seoul, Geumsa-myeon in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, recorded the highest at 39.1°C (102.4°F).

Most parts of the metropolitan area have been under a severe heatwave warning, the highest level of heatwave alerts, for three consecutive days.

Severe heatwave warnings were also issued for parts of western Gangwon Province, including Hoengseong and Chuncheon, as well as Jeonju and Gwangju. This marks the first time a severe heatwave warning has been issued for the Gangwon region.

The intensity of the heatwave blanketing the Korean Peninsula is reaching its peak.

(Camera: Kang Dong-chul | Video Editing: Kim Jong-tae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.