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Cool air arrival brings relief as heat wave advisories are lifted

Published: 09 Sep. 2025, 15:04

Concert goers enter the venue for Psy's Summer Swag concert at Sokcho, Gangwon, on July 26. [SOKCHO]

The heat wave disaster alert level was lowered from “serious,” the highest level, to “alert” as of 9 p.m. Monday.

As a result, the Level 1 emergency posture of the central disaster and safety countermeasures headquarters for heat waves, which had been in place for 46 days this year, was lifted. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the decision to downgrade the alert level came after monitoring indicators that suggested the heat wave risk had eased slightly.

This year’s heat wave response headquarters was in operation from July 25 through Monday, marking a record-setting 46-day run — 17 days longer than the previous record of 29 days in 2024.

The emergency headquarters is activated when the daily maximum perceived temperature is forecast to reach 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher for three or more consecutive days in at least 40 percent of land forecast zones. This summer, extreme heat across the country led to prolonged operations.

With the influx of cool, dry air from the north, all heat wave advisories and warnings have been lifted across most regions except for the coast of Jeju Island.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAE JAE-SUNG [[email protected]]