[Anchor]

While it was less hot than the Yeongnam region, the Seoul metropolitan area could not escape the scorching heat either. In Seoul, the apparent temperature soared to 36.7°C (98°F). Starting next week, the wind direction is set to change, making the western regions of the Korean Peninsula, including the metropolitan area, even hotter.

Reporter Cho Min-ki has the details.

[Reporter]

An urban park in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.

Though it is the weekend, hardly any visitors are to be found, and cooling fog systems designed to combat the intense heat continuously spray over empty benches.

[Kim Soo-yeon / Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province: It is so hot and humid today that I feel like I need to head indoors quickly. If I just sit here right now, I feel like I am literally burning up.]

Today (August 1), Seoul's daytime high reached 34°C (93°F), while the apparent temperature climbed up to 36.7°C (98°F).

Heatwave warnings remain in effect across the entire metropolitan area, with daytime highs hitting 32.6°C (91°F) in Incheon, 33.4°C (92°F) in Suwon, and 34.7°C (94°F) in Icheon.

Elderly residents who usually enjoyed visiting parks sought shelter from the sun at district heatwave relief centers, cooling off with handheld fans beneath the air conditioning.

[Heatwave Shelter Visitor: We come here because it is cool and nice. It is too hot to stay outside.]

Citizens continued to flock to downtown water parks to escape the relentless scorching heat.

Riding down water slides and excitedly engaging in water gun fights, they temporarily forgot the heat.

[Shim Jae-kwang & Shim Ju-ho / Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul: Until a few days ago, I felt really dizzy because it was so hot, but coming here seems to have completely blown the heat away. (It is so hot! It is hot!)]

[Jeon Bo-mi & Yu A-jin / Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul: We set up a tent over there, but coming inside here is much cooler, so we came to enjoy it with our baby.]

Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area are expected to become even hotter next week.

The Korea Meteorological Administration forecasts that starting Monday next week, wind directions will shift to easterlies, driving temperatures in western regions—such as Seoul and Hanam reaching 37°C (99°F), and Gwangju in South Jeolla Province hitting 38°C (100°F)—about 2 to 3 degrees higher than today. Authorities have urged the public to exercise extreme caution regarding health management by refraining from outdoor activities.

(Camera Footage: In Pil-seong, Kim Se-gyeong | Video Editing: So Ji-hye | Design: Kang Yoon-jung)