[Anchor]

Yongsan-gu in Seoul recorded a scorching 39.9°C (104°F) yesterday (the 6th), nearly reaching 40°C, making it the hottest spot in the nation.

Reporter Bae Seong-jae takes us around the country, which is currently boiling.

[Reporter]

Shortly after noon, I climbed Mt. Namsan in Seoul.

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

Checking the temperatures, most areas exceeded 40°C.

The surface of the intensely heated rooftop of a building soared past a staggering 60°C.

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

[Park Jun-yong / Overseas Resident: I keep using wet towels and I have no idea how many t-shirts I change into a day. This weather is really driving me crazy.]

I headed into the downtown area.

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

Except for Yeouido Park, which is surrounded by the Han River and lush trees, the entire city center was dyed red.

The heat radiating from the asphalt road well exceeded 70°C.

A car could be seen suddenly stalling in the middle of the road, unable to withstand the heat.

[(Sir, why is your car doing that?) The clutch isn't working... (Is it because of the heat?) Yes, because of the heat...]

Even the ground of the fountain, where water is continuously sprayed, suffered from a heatwave exceeding 30°C.

Seoul's official highest temperature, recorded in Jongno-gu, Seoul, was 37.9°C (100°F), making it the hottest day of the year.

This is the fifth highest record in history since observations began.

Yongsan-gu recorded the highest temperature in the nation at 39.9°C (104°F).

Guro-gu and Geumcheon-gu in Seoul also neared 39°C, while outside of Seoul, Geumsa-myeon in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, recorded the highest at 39.1°C.

Most areas in the greater Seoul metropolitan area have been under a serious heatwave warning, the highest level of heatwave alerts, for three consecutive days.

Serious 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 serious heatwave warning has been issued for the Gangwon region.

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

(Camera: Kang Dong-chul | Video Editing: Kim Jong-tae)