South Korea wildfires kill 18 as government declares full-scale emergency

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A man talks to his son on the phone under a streetlight on the road in front of his home as wildfires burn in Uiseong, South Korea, March 24, 2025. — AFP pic

UISEONG, March 26 — At least 18 people have been killed in one of South Korea’s worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple blazes burning and causing “unprecedented damage”, the acting president said today.

More than a dozen different blazes broke out over the weekend, with the death toll jumping overnight as one major fire tore through villages and burned a historical temple to the ground.

The government has raised the crisis alert to its highest level and declared a “a full-scale national response” to bring the fires under control.

“Eighteen people died in the wildfires,” a ministry of safety official told AFP.

“Additionally, six people were seriously injured and 13 suffered minor injuries.”

Dry, windy weather has hampered efforts to contain the fires, with the government taking the rare step of evacuating thousands of prisoners out of detention centres in affected counties.

Yesterday, authorities issued an emergency alert for Hahoe Folk Village — a Unesco-listed world heritage site popular with tourists — as the blaze drew closer.

“Wildfires burning for a fifth-consecutive day in Ulsan and the Gyeongsang region are causing unprecedented damage,” South Korea’s acting president Han Duck-soo said.

He told an emergency safety and disaster meeting that the blazes were “developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations.”

Authorities launched emergency evacuations yesterday afternoon “but sadly, casualties could not be prevented,” he said.

“Throughout the night, chaos continued as power and communication lines were cut in several areas and roads were blocked,” he added.

Thousands of firefighters have been deployed, but “strong winds reaching speeds of 25 metres per second persisted from yesterday afternoon through the night, forcing the suspension of helicopter and drone operations,” Han said.

“Constantly shifting wind directions and ongoing dry weather advisories have revealed the limitations of conventional firefighting methods,” he added.

Han said the government has launched a “full-scale national response”.

‘Fire came from the mountain’

Evacuees sheltering in the gym of Sinsung elementary school told AFP that the fire had hit their villages so quickly they did not have time to take anything with them as they fled.

“The wind was so strong,” Kwon So-han, a 79-year-old resident in Andong told AFP, adding that as soon as he got the evacuation order he fled.

“The fire came from the mountain and fell on my house,” he said.

“Those who haven’t experienced it won’t know. I could only bring my body.”

Han said more people were being moved to temporary shelters and the government was working to provide emergency relief and financial support to those displaced by the fires.

Rain is forecast for late today, with authorities hoping to capitalise on even a light sprinkling to help extinguish the fires.

Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.

Other phenomena, such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms can result from a combination of complex factors.

The fire in Uiseong was reportedly caused by a person who was tending to a family grave site and accidentally ignited the blaze. — AFP