Brief respite from monsoon rains for South Korea; more bodies found following record downpours

SEOUL - The South Korean authorities said on Tuesday that the country can expect some respite on Wednesday from monsoon rains currently lashing the country, but warned that the downpour will resume on Friday.

The warning came as the authorities found three bodies in a village worst hit by days of record rain.

South Korea’s weather agency said the rains are expected to ease off from Wednesday morning. That is when the country is forecast to have clear weather due to high-pressure conditions.

During this time, temperatures will exceed 30 deg C, bringing possible heatwaves to the country, said the Korea Meteorological Administration.

But a stationary front formed in inland China, accompanied by low pressure, will make its approach from Jeju island and the southern regions starting on Friday. As a result, heavy rain can be expected across the country at the weekend.

South Korea is at the peak of its summer monsoon season.

Days of torrential rain

have caused widespread flooding and landslides, with rivers bursting their banks, and reservoirs and dams overflowing.

The downpour has left at least 50 people dead or missing. The toll includes 14 who died when

floodwaters trapped them in an underpass in the city of Cheongju.

On Tuesday, South Korean authorities discovered three more bodies in Yecheon in North Gyeongsang province. It was one of the hardest-hit villages, where more than a third of the houses were damaged in landslides and two people remain missing.

The death toll in North Gyeongsang alone now stands at 22.

The latest casualties were one man in his 60s and two women – one in her 50s and the other in her 70s. One of them had gone missing on Saturday with her husband, who is yet to be found.

Farther south in the port city of Busan, the search continues for a woman in her 60s, who was swept away by heavy rain last Tuesday afternoon.

The total number of people missing nationwide due to the extreme rainfall stands at seven.

From June 25, when the monsoon season began, to last Saturday, the amount of rain reached 489.1mm in the central region and 473.4mm in the southern regions.

During average monsoon seasons, the amount of rain reaches 378.3mm in the central region for an average of 31.5 days, and 341.1mm of rain in the southern regions for an average of 31.4 days.

So far, the amount of rain in 2023 has been 1.3 times and 1.4 times that of an average year, in the central and southern regions respectively, according to the weather agency.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has called for an overhaul of the country’s disaster response system to better cope with climate change-induced crises.

“Climate change is causing extreme natural disasters,” he told a Cabinet meeting that was televised live. “We cannot respond to this unprecedented, abnormal weather the way we have been doing until now.”

Mr Yoon said South Korea should have a digital system to simulate and monitor precipitation forecasts that will enable officials to take pre-emptive safety measures.

“This is what I have stressed since last year,” he said, referring to the flooding in August 2022 when the heaviest rain in 115 years hit Seoul, paralysing commercial areas and inundating low-lying neighbourhoods in the affluent Gangnam district.

The latest deaths have cast doubt on South Korea’s work to prepare for extreme weather driven by climate change, as floods have claimed dozens of lives during recent rainy seasons despite the vow for better preparation.

Experts say the government has failed to set aside the funds needed to fulfil its pledge and instead has remained too focused on recovery.

The heavy downpours in South Korea coincided with extreme heat elsewhere around the globe, and as the United States and China – the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters – resumed top-level diplomacy to discuss joint efforts to combat global warming.

US climate envoy John Kerry said on Monday that it was “imperative that China and the United States make real progress” in the four months before United Nations-sponsored climate talks begin in Dubai. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, REUTERS