East Asia is baking in ‘cruelly hot’ summer

AsiaEast Asia is baking in ‘cruelly hot’ summerA deadly heat wave is setting temperature records in South Korea and complicating earthquake recovery efforts in Japan, where three lions have also died at a zoo.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00A pedestrian in Himeji, Japan, using a handheld fan on a shopping street during an extremely hot day last month.Buddhika Weerasinghe / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleAug. 4, 2026, 6:52 AM EDTBy Mithil AggarwalA deadly heat wave is gripping large parts of East Asia, bringing the hottest temperature on record in South Korea and complicating earthquake recovery efforts in Japan. Extreme heat has been linked to 19 deaths in South Korea since mid-May, with President Lee Jae Myung calling it a national disaster on Tuesday.“We need to make efforts for ​a fundamental overhaul of the national crisis system, ‌since this extreme weather is becoming normal,” he said at a cabinet meeting. On Sunday, temperatures hit 42.5 degrees Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) in the southeastern city of Yangsan, the highest in 122 years of record-keeping.A woman wearing a full-face mask uses a parasol to shield herself from the sun at the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday.Jung Yeon-Je / AFP via Getty ImagesWhile the abnormally high temperatures have mostly been concentrated in the south, in recent days they have spread north toward the capital, Seoul. For the first time on Tuesday, the Korea Meteorological Administration issued its new “severe” heat wave warning for all of Seoul after issuing it for parts of the city on Monday. The warning is issued when the maximum perceived temperature is at least 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 F).Residents of the Seoul metropolitan area, which is home to more than 26 million people, were advised to stay indoors, keep hydrated and check on vulnerable groups.Temperatures are also soaring in North Korea, where the state newspaper Rodong Sinmun urged residents to avoid outdoor activities an...