26.03.2025 (12:01 PM) Htate See

Severe wildfires in South Korea have worsened overnight as dry and windy weather hampered efforts to contain the country’s worst wildfires, officials said on March 25.

More than a dozen wildfires have broken out in the past few days, the safety minister said. The fires have burned thousands of hectares and killed four people.

“The fires have so far burned about 14,694 hectares (36,310 acres). The damage is still increasing,” said acting Interior and Safety Minister Ko Ki-don.

The scale of the damage makes the fires the third-largest in South Korea’s history. The country’s largest wildfire was a blaze on the east coast in April 2000 that burned 23,913 hectares (5,9090 acres).

More than 3,000 people have been evacuated to shelters, Koki-dong said. At least 11 people were seriously injured.

“Strong winds, dry weather and fog are hampering efforts to put out the fire,” he told a disaster and safety meeting.

“The government is using all available resources. Today, 110 helicopters and more than 6,700 people will be deployed,” he added. South Korean firefighters are struggling to control the wildfires raging in the country’s southeast.

AFP reporters saw smoke and fog filling the sky in Yue Seong-myeon. Workers at a local temple were trying to move historical artifacts and were putting up barriers to protect Buddhist statues from damage.

The forest fire containment rate in Yue Seong-gun has dropped from 60 percent to 55 percent as of the morning of March 25, the Korea Forestry Agency said.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Security said more than 6,700 firefighters are being deployed to extinguish the fires, with two-fifths of them sent to Yue Seong-gun.

The government has declared a state of emergency in four regions amid widespread damage from the wildfires that are burning simultaneously across the country.