Latest Korean launches: 27 people killed, 1,000 years old Buddhist temple destroyed by record-breaking wildfire

The wildfires that infuriated in Korea have doubled in size since a day before today, as authorities called it Blazes the Blazes the Blazes.

Over 35,000 hectares (88,000 acres) are burning or are still burning in the largest fire that began in central Useong County, making it the largest single bushfire in South Korea’s history. Previous records were 24,000 hectares (59,000 acres) in the March 2000 fire.

Wildfires derived from Uiseong are rapidly moving eastward, spreading almost to the coast, carried by gusts of winds, and the dry conditions make the situation worse.

The Useong fire began to spread soon yesterday, reaching the coastal county of Yongdeok, 51km (32 miles) away in just 12 hours.

South Korean representative president Han Duck Saw yesterday called wildfires “unprecedented” and said the crisis was “to rewrite the record book of the worst wildfires in our country’s history.”

“The damage is snowballing,” Han said. “There’s concern that there’s a risk that there’s a wildfire damage we’ve never experienced, so we need to focus all our abilities to launch wildfires for the rest of this week.”

At today’s government response meeting, he said:

The military has released aviation fuel inventory to help fire helicopters fly across the mountainous regions of the country’s southeastern mountains, where fires have been burning for almost a week.

More than 120 helicopters have been deployed in three areas fighting the flames, according to the Ministry of Safety. South Korea relies on helicopters to fight forest fires for its mountainous regions. A helicopter pilot died yesterday after crashing while tackling the flames.

More than 300 structures have been destroyed, including homes, factories and 1,300-year-old Buddhist temples, officials said Wednesday.

The Gunsa Temple, founded during the Sira Dynasty in 681, was destroyed in Uiseong. Heritage officials said some of the site’s national treasures, including 8th century stone Buddha statues, were removed before the flames reached the main wooden buildings.

The cause of the wildfire is still unclear, but it is suspected that the fire was caused by human activity, perhaps sparks from welding, or people cleaning up dried grass near ancestral tombs, some reports say.

However, authorities say the rapid spread of the flame and unprecedented scale are the result of an unusually hot and dry condition.

“The wildfires have once again exposed the harsh reality of the climate crisis, unlike what we had experienced before,” the disaster director said.

“In affected areas, only half of the average rainfall was seen, and combined with unusually strong winds, dramatically accelerated the spread of fires and increased damage,” he said.

High temperatures amplified by human-laminated climate change contribute to existing seasonal arid conditions, the Central Climate Group, an independent body of scientists and researchers, said in the report.

Wildfires carve out paths of devastation through areas that amount to about half of Singapore’s equivalent, destroying all of their paths, including historic temples and homes in the mountainous regions of North Yangsan Province.

A team of firefighters are on standby to protect the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Ha Ho village and the Bion San Confucian Academy in Andong city.

The picturesque Folk Village features traditional Korean homes, many with that roofs, and the Confucian Academy dates back more than 450 years.

The fire has already severely damaged other historic sites, including many of the Gounsa temples in Uiseong, built in 681.

“What the Buddhist monk Ks left behind for over 1,300 years, all the buildings and ruins are gone,” said Deungwoon, head of the Goonsa temple.

The death toll from South Korea’s wildfires rose to 27 today as three more confirmed deaths.

The fatalities include a pilot whose helicopter crashed during an effort to contain yesterday’s fire, and four firefighters and other workers who died early after being locked up in a fast flame.

Authorities have not revealed details of the civilian deaths, but they are mostly in their 60s and have found it difficult to escape right away, or even refused an order to evacuate.

They suspect that human error has caused several wildfires. These include when people are cleaning up overgrown grass from family graves or when they are sparking during welding operations.

Experts say current wildfires in South Korea and California this year are part of the growth of global patterns driven by climate change.

“Just three months after 2025, we have already witnessed record wildfire activity in multiple regions,” said Dr. Kimberly Simpson, a fellow at the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Sheffield. “As climate change promotes temperature rise and rainfall patterns change, these catastrophic fire conditions are becoming more frequent.”

Dr. Simpson said both the January fire in California and the ongoing flames in South Korea have been experiencing unusually warm and dry weather, leaving vegetation dangerously flammable. “In both cases, strong winds spread the flames rapidly, making firefighter much more difficult,” she said.