What Causes the Deadly and Destructive Fires in South Korea?

Millennial temples reduced to ashes, villages emptied in emergency, entirely blackened mountains: South Korea lives one of the worst natural disasters in its history. In less than a week, uncontrollable fires have ravaged more than 47,000 hectares in the south-east of the country, causing the deaths of 28 people and the evacuation of tens of thousands of inhabitants. At the origin of the fire departures would be linked to human activities.

A explosive combination in South Korea: pine forest, wind and drought

The fires that currently ravage south-eastern South Korea have a dynamic of propagation of rare intensity. The affected forest areas are constantly expanding, exceeding 47,000 hectares, with an accelerated progression by combined ecological and meteorological factors. Fire has gained momentum in mountainous areas that are difficult to access, where help are struggling to intervene effectively. The thickness of the very homogeneous plant cover promotes a continuous transmission of tree flames into a tree, without natural discontinuity to brake its expansion.

The nature of the species present plays a decisive role. Experts like Lee Byung-Doo, from the National Institute of Forest Science, remind the Bbc That the pines, omnipresent in South Korea, contain a highly flammable resin. “” It acts like oil and accelerates combustion. These trees promote the formation of peak fires, which set the canopy in a few moments ». This configuration creates a risk of vertical spread, where the canopy ignites even before help can react to the ground.

In addition, there are powerful (more than 50 km/h) and dry winds that sweep the northern Gyeongsang region, particularly affected. The abnormally high temperatures for a late March-above 20 ° C-combined with extremely low humidity have transformed the forests into a powder. The configuration of the valleys acts as a natural ventilation corridor, accelerating the speed of the flames. In this context, air -control means are essential, but insufficient in the face of the extent of the phenomenon. This crisis reveals the limits of a homogeneous forest management, in a country where 64 % of the territory is covered with forests often poorly prepared to face fires of this magnitude.

Human origin, but aggravating climate context

In addition, these fires find their immediate origin in banal but dangerous human gestures. Hypotheses evoke a lighter left on a family tomb, a spark during welding work, or the burning of waste in sensitive areas. However, it was the exceptional climatic conditions that have transformed these isolated incidents into a national disaster. The authorities have confirmed that the affected regions, notably Uiseong and Andong, had only received 50 % of the usual seasonal precipitation. This prolonged drought drying the soils and vegetation, creating highly flammable terrain.

According to data from the Korean weather administration, 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded in the country. The average annual temperature amounts to 14.5 ° C. Two degrees above the average of the last three decades. This accelerated warming is a global trend. Professor Yeh Sang-Wook, climatologist at Hanyang University in Seoul, warned at Guardian : ” The lack of rain has completely dried up the ground, creating ideal conditions for fires. Climate change is an obvious aggravating factor ».

The NGO Central Climate confirms this analysis. She believes that strong spring temperatures have been made five times more likely by global warming. This combination of heat, drought and strong winds allowed flames to progress at an uncontrollable speed. In aging rural areas, this dynamic turned out to be tragic. Several elderly people could not flee in time. The lack of clear and accessible information has further amplified their vulnerability in the face of poorly relayed evacuation orders.

South Korea sees its cultural heritage going up in smoke

Beyond human and material losses, it is an entire part of Korean history that is ravaged. The Gounsa temple, founded in the 7th century, saw twenty of its thirty buildings disappear, including two national treasures. There was a 16th century pavilion and a 1904 structure erected in honor of a king of the Joseon dynasty. A monk, upset, discovered the bell tower of the temple split by heat, relates the Bbc.

© Kim Do-Hoon/Yonhap/AP

The vestiges of pavilions burnt down at the temple of Gounsa in Uiseong. © Kim Do-Hoon/Yonhap/AP

Other emblematic places are in danger. In particular the village of Hahoe, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, or the Confucian Academy byeongsan Seowon. The authorities have tried to protect these jewels by pulverizing fire delayers, but often without success.

© Kim Do-Hoon/Yonhap/AP

© Kim Do-Hoon/Yonhap/AP

Rare objects – wooden printing blocks, old paintings – had to be hastily evacuated. For the inhabitants, these losses are as symbolic as they are identitary. “” It's more than a fire. It is our collective memory that goes up in smoke “, Lands up a resident whose house was completely destroyed after 30 years of life in Andong.

Hope: the weather changes and the emergency services adapt

Since Friday, the situation seems to improve. Light rains and a drop in temperatures helped contain fires in the most critical areas, according to Lim Sang-Seop, director of the Korean forest service. “” We are now going to management of residual households. But the risk of new departures remains high “, He warned at AP News.

About 9,000 rescuers and 125 helicopters were mobilized to control the fire, in an unprecedented effort. However, Governor Lee Cheol-Woo alerts the need to adapt the means. “” We do not have suitable equipment to combat fires at night. We must completely review our strategy in the face of extreme climatic conditions ». Shelters have been installed in schools and gymnasiums to accommodate the victims. Faced with the forests that are bucking up, a whole society vacillates.

These fires recall that climate inaction is no longer abstract, but deadly. While South Korea faces the direct consequences of climate change, global political signals go in the opposite direction. In the United States, Donald Trump has removed a federal climate risk assessment tool developed by FEMA. He dismissed hundreds of NOAA scientists, weakening the world forecasting capacities worldwide. These decisions slow down the adaptation of societies to extreme events. In this context, each renunciation compromises our collective capacity to anticipate, prevent and protect a little more.