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South Korea Records Highest Temperature Ever Measured at 42.5 Degrees Celsius

evening · · thread: Severe Weather Alerts Issued for Argentina and Central United States

5 sources across 4 countries · South Korea · Indonesia · Japan · Pakistan · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • Yonhap South Korea · Centre · State-affiliated · Cooperative; statutory national agency with state subsidy
  • The Korea Herald South Korea · Centre-right · Herald Corporation (Yeongpoong Group)
  • The Jakarta Post Indonesia · Centre-left · PT Bina Media Tenggara
  • The Japan Times Japan · Centre · News2u Holdings
  • Dawn Pakistan · Centre-left · Pakistan Herald Publications (Haroon family)

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

South Korea recorded its highest temperature since records began in 1904 on Sunday, with the southeastern city of Yangsan reaching 42.5 degrees Celsius at 1:26 p.m. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Yangsan has been the epicenter of the heatwave, marking the fifth consecutive day that temperatures in the city exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. Gyeongju also saw temperatures rise above 40 degrees Celsius for the first time this year. In response, the government activated a Level 2 emergency operation of the disaster response headquarters to strengthen the national response to the extreme heat. Prime Minister Han Seong-sook issued emergency orders to prioritize safety checks for vulnerable populations and ensure stable power and water supplies. Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon recommended that employers halt outdoor work when perceived temperatures reach 38 degrees Celsius. Health data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency indicates that 1,781 people were treated for heat-related illnesses between May 15 and July 31, with 13 suspected deaths. Forecasters are currently monitoring Typhoon Dolphin, noting that its path could either intensify the heat by pushing humid air toward the peninsula or provide temporary relief through rain and cloud cover. Center-left outlets framed the event within the broader context of human-induced climate change and rising long-term trends in heatwave frequency. Center-right coverage focused more heavily on the specific government administrative responses and the potential meteorological impact of the approaching typhoon.

How each side framed it

Centre-left
Framed the record heat as a consequence of human-induced climate change and highlighted long-term increases in heatwave days.
Centre
Focused on the factual reporting of the record temperature and government emergency measures.
Centre-right
Emphasized the government's administrative response levels and the uncertainty introduced by Typhoon Dolphin.

Sources

93% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.