SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) — South Korea experienced an unprecedented number of heat-related deaths in 2023, with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reporting that the figure nearly quadrupled compared to the previous year. As of Friday, 32 people had died from heat-related illness, compared to nine in 2022. This figure is the highest since 2018, when the country reported 48 heat-related deaths.
Since 2011, the country has been tracking the data. The average national temperature from June through August came to 24.7 C, the fourth-highest level ever, according to the weather agency.
The majority of those affected were aged 65 and older, accounting for 29.5 percent of all patients suffering heat-related illnesses in 2023, followed by those in their 50s with 21.3 percent, the data showed.
In response, health authorities have operated an enhanced heat-related illness monitoring system since May 20, which is to end on Saturday.
People walk across a road in the southeastern city of Daegu on Aug. 3, 2023, over which the air shimmers as a heat wave continues to grip South Korea. (Yonhap)
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