Hot enough for ya? South Korea swelters in record-breaking heat!

 

Graphic:  Instagram

Headline:  New York Times, 8/5/2026

Choe Sang-Hun reports:

The brutal heat set a record on Sunday, when a southwestern town clocked a staggering 42.5 degrees Celsius, about 108.5 degrees Fahrenheit — the highest reading in 122 years of weather observations in South Korea.  [emphasis added]

Illnesses related to the extreme weather have claimed 21 lives since mid-May, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency confirmed Wednesday. President Lee Jae Myung declared the scorching conditions a national disaster on Tuesday, a day after three citizens, ages 77 to 97, collapsed and died while walking or working in garden plots. 

Elsewhere, the heat has emptied outdoor markets and construction sites, triggered power outages in parts of the country as electricity demand spiked, and killed hundreds of thousands of pigs, chickens and other livestock, the Home Ministry reported.

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