KB News Desk
Temperatures in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, reached a high of 40.3 degrees Celsius Wednesday afternoon, the highest ever recorded in the city.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the temperature in Yangsan surpassed the 40 degrees mark at 3:26 p.m., then rose to 40.3 degrees at 3:34 p.m. It is the highest temperature recorded in the city since authorities began observing the city’s weather on Dec. 26, 2008.
Busan, the second-largest city in the country, logged its own record high of 38.8 C as of 2:56 p.m. The previous record (37.3 C) had stood for over a century since 1904. Busan was one of South Korea’s earliest cities to keep weather records.
It is also the third straight year that a region’s temperature has surpassed 40 degrees in July. August is typically the hottest month in Korea, making it rare for such temperatures to be recorded in July.
However, the 40+ temperatures recorded in 2024 and 2025 were recorded by the Automatic Weather System. Though authorized by the government, this weather system is not used for official statistics such as daily high and low temperatures.
The last time the Automated Synoptic Observing System — which is used for official tally — logged a similarly high temperature was back in August 2018, when highs in Euiseong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, reached 40.3 C.
This year’s record heat is already drawing comparisons to the summer of 2018, one of the hottest summers on record. The ASOS record for the highest temperature of all time was the 41 C high recorded on Aug. 1, 2018, in Hongcheong, Gangwon Province.
