By Minwoo Park, Reuters
South Korean authorities said on March 24 they would deploy dozens of helicopters and thousands of firefighters and soldiers as they struggle to control multiple wildfires in the southeast, which have been burning for days.
Wildfires have spread across South Korea's southeastern region. Photo: AFP / Yasuyoshi Chiba
Wildfires have spread across South Korea's southeastern region forcing the evacuation of thousands of inmates from local prisons and causing residents to flee their homes.
Acting President Han Duck-soo vowed to deploy firefighting helicopters and ground personnel to battle the fires.
The city of Andong, with a population of 150,000 people, issued an alert to its residents to evacuate to safe areas, according to a city official and a public text alert. The city is home to the 14th- to 15th-century Hahoe Folk Village, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The official said the blaze was currently about 10 km (6 miles) from Hahoe.
A helicopter takes part in an operation to extinguish a wildfire in Uiseong on 24 March 2025.
A helicopter takes part in an operation to extinguish a wildfire in Uiseong on 24 March 2025. Photo: AFP / Yasuyoshi Chiba
Authorities designated the affected counties "special disaster zones."
The Ministry of Justice said it has begun transferring about 2,600 inmates from four prisons in Cheongsong County due to the wildfires.
At least four people have been killed and hundreds forced to flee their homes since blazes broke out in several areas on Saturday, stoked by strong winds and dry weather. One woman was found dead on Tuesday, local media reported, with police saying they suspected the death was related to the wildfires.
An woman is escorted by a city official as she evacuates from her home due to the approaching wildfire in Andong Hahoe Folk Village, in Andong, South Korea, on 25 March 2025. Inhabitants of a UNESCO-listed village were ordered to evacuate while a historic Buddhist temple was burned to the ground as South Korea scrambled to contain worsening wildfires, which are tearing across the country's southeast.
An woman is escorted by a city official as she evacuates from her home due to the approaching wildfire in Andong Hahoe Folk Village, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in Andong, South Korea. Photo: AFP / Yasuyoshi Chiba
The wildfires have already gutted local landmarks including ancient Buddhist temples.
"Because this is such an old temple, it is so regrettable and heartbreaking that it has been burned down," said Jeung Meung-suk, a 55-year-old Buddhist follower at Unramsa, a thousands-year-old temple where most of whose buildings were burned.
- Reuters