South Korea battles worst wildfires on record

Won Myung-soo, Director of Satellite Imagery Analysis, National Forestry Service, stated that the Uiseong fire in South Korea quickly began spreading on Wednesday, reaching the coastal county of Yeongdeok 51 km (32 miles) away in just 12 hours, with more than 300 structures destroyed.

Out of nearly 30 fires since last Friday, five were still burning early Thursday, including the largest three fires in Uiseong.

Over the past seven days, wildfires have erupted across multiple cities and towns in the Gyeongsang provinces, including Sancheong and Gimhae in South Gyeongsang Province; Uiseong, Andong, Yeongdeok, Yeongyang, and Cheongsong in North Gyeongsang Province; and the city of Ulsan.

The government said that firefighters had contained 44% of these, but windy conditions have prevented them from mobilizing helicopters and drones.

The nation’s weather agency forecast small bouts of rain in the region by the end of the week, but officials said they doubted it would do much to help put out the flames, as precipitation is expected to be under five millimetres for most of the affected areas, with many areas still waiting for rain as of early afternoon.

The wildfires are being reported as the worst to date, surpassing March 2000, which spread across 59,000 acres.

According to various local reports, at least 27 people have died due to the wildfires so far. The disaster response centre on Thursday morning said over 88,488 acres of land in the southeast has been scorched, double the figure from the previous day.

Flames and smoke have so far damaged 317 buildings across the region, according to the ministry, including two Buddhist temples, each more than 1,000 years old.

In a press conference covered by KBS, Acting President, Han Duck-soo stated, “We are mobilizing all personnel and equipment available to confront the worst wildfires in history, but the situation is serious. We must cut the chain of wildfire spread this week and will deploy all available personnel and equipment. As we are concerned about unprecedented wildfire damages, we must concentrate all our capabilities on firefighting for the remainder of this week.”

The president warned that in case of additional wildfires, there may be a shortage of firefighting personnel, urging focus on prevention. In the press conference, he also stated that the government would review and improve any shortcomings in wildfire response and prevention measures. He promised to do his best to provide administrative and financial support to wildfire victims.

According to the Korea Forest Service, over 8,500 people are currently engaged in firefighting efforts nationwide, and the US military has also provided helicopter support.

On Wednesday, the government said that over 27,000 people have been evacuated, among them were residents of the 600-year-old Andong Hahoe folk village, a UNESCO World Heritage site more than 130 miles southeast of Seoul.

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