South Korea wildfires ‘largest on record’: disaster chief

Wildfires in South Korea are now the largest and deadliest there on record, having burned more forest and killed more people than any previous blaze, as the death toll hit 27.

More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast and forcing around 37,000 people to flee, with the fire cutting off roads and downing communications lines as residents escaped in panic.

South Korea’s Ministry of Interior and Safety said that 27 people had been killed and dozens more injured, with the toll likely to rise. It is the highest number of deaths since the Korea Forest Service started records for wildfires in 1987.

An 81-year-old apple farmer walks with sticks over debris past her neighbours' homes, burned by a wildfire. Picture: AFP

A member of the Korea Forest Service observes a wildfire from the side of a road in Andong early on March 27, 2025. Picture: AFP

Wildfires in South Korea are now the largest and deadliest on record, having burned more forest and killed more people than any previous blaze, officials said. Picture: AFP

More than 86,500 acres of forest have been burned, Lee Han-kyung, disaster and safety division chief said, adding that the fire was still spreading “rapidly”.

The extent of damage makes it South Korea’s largest ever wildfire, after an inferno in April 2000 that scorched the east coast.

A wildfire spreads in Andong, South Korea, their worst in history. Picture: AFP

Authorities said changing wind patterns and dry weather had revealed the limitations of conventional firefighting methods.

Many of those killed were residents - in particular the elderly.

At least three firefighters were killed, and a pilot in a firefighting helicopter died when his aircraft crashed in a mountain area, officials said.

Houses burn in a village after being engulfed by a wildfire fuelled by strong winds in Uiseong, South Korea. Picture: Yoon Gwan-shick/Yonhap via AP

A helicopter takes part in an operation to extinguish a wildfire in Uiseong, South Korea. Picture: AFP

CLIMATE CHANGE, FORESTRY TO BLAME

Last year was South Korea’s hottest year on record, and the fire-hit region had been experiencing unusually dry weather with below-average precipitation, authorities said.

“This wildfire has once again exposed the harsh reality of a climate crisis unlike anything we’ve experienced before,” disaster chief Lee said.

“The affected areas have seen only half the average rainfall, coupled with unusually strong winds, which have drastically accelerated the spread of the fire and intensified the damage,” he said.

Monks look at debris after most of the buildings were burned to the ground in a wildfire at Gounsa Temple in Uiseong, S. Korea. Picture: AFP

Cracked roof tiles remain after most of the buildings were burned to the ground in a wildfire at Gounsa Temple. Picture: AFP

Yeh Sang-Wook, professor of climatology at Seoul’s Hanyang University, told AFP that the lack of rainfall had dried out the land “creating favourable conditions for wildfires.”

“We can’t say that it’s only due to climate change, but climate change is directly (and) indirectly affecting the changes we are experiencing now. This is a sheer fact.”

Members of the Gyeongbuk Seobu Cultural Heritage Care Center wrap a Buddha statue with cotton cloth and a fire-retardant blanket after evacuating all other items. Picture: AFP

But another expert, professor Hong Suk-hwan at Pusan National University’s Department of Landscape Architecture, said the country’s forest management practices also took some blame.

South Korea has prioritised the preservation of large pine trees - packed with oily resin - above allowing a variety of deciduous trees to thrive, he said.

People evacuated from their homes due to the approaching wildfire, stay at the gymnasium of Sinsung Elementary School in Andong, South Korea. Picture: AFP

“If a fire breaks out, would it spread more easily on wet paper or on dry paper soaked in oil? Our forests are essentially covered in oil-soaked paper, creating an environment where wildfires can spread at an alarming speed,” he told AFP.

Were South Korea to have cultivated more deciduous trees in a natural mixed forest it “would slow wildfire spread and prevent it from escalating.”

ANCIENT PINE SACRIFICED

A 200-year-old pine tree at Bongjeongsa temple in Andong - the oldest wooden structure in South Korea and a UNESCO-listed site - was cut down in a bid to preserve the temple itself.

“We had no choice but to cut it down … The fire is spreading rapidly from one pine tree to another,” the chief monk said.

A wildfire spreads on a mountain in Andong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. Picture: Kim Do-hun/Yonhap via AP

At UNESCO-listed Byeongsan Seowon, a former Confucian academy, the sky was hazy, AFP reporters saw, with fire trucks spraying water and fire retardants onto the historic site in a desperate bid to save it.

“We are spraying three tonnes of water every day,” Lee Seung-myung from the Andong fire department told AFP.

Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire devastating the area on March 27, 2025 in Cheongsong, South Korea. Picture: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Choi Young-ho, a firefighter at the heritage site, said that they were at the mercy of the wind.

“If there is a strong wind, it will carry flames from afar - a very worrisome situation,” he said.

Rain is forecast for late Thursday, potentially giving authorities a much-needed window to extinguish the blazes.

Originally published as South Korea wildfires ‘largest on record’: disaster chief