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Han River freezes for the first time this season

Published: 03 Jan. 2026, 13:26

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

Ice sheets are seen filling the Han River in southern Seoul on Jan. 3 as temperatures dipped below freezing point in recent days. [KOREA MEETOROLOGICAL ADMINISTRATION]

The Korea Meteorological Administration announced Saturday that the Han River officially froze for the first time this season, earlier than usual, as a brutal cold wave gripped much of the nation.

The freezing of the river arrived seven days earlier than the seasonal average of Jan. 10, based on data from 1991 to 2020, and 37 days earlier than last year, which marked the second-latest freeze since modern weather observations began in 1906.

The Han River typically freezes when Seoul's daily low falls below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) for three consecutive days.

Amid the recent cold wave, Seoul's daily low was minus 8.9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, minus 10.5 degrees on Thursday and minus 11.4 degrees on Friday. The daily low remained near the minus 10 degrees mark on Saturday at 9.8 degrees.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]