Temple Burned, UNESCO Site Evacuated As South Korea Wildfires Spread

A historic Buddhist temple burned to the ground and a UNESCO-listed village was ordered to evacuate as South Korea scrambled to contain worsening wildfires, which are tearing across the country's southeast.

More than a dozen different blazes broke out over the weekend, with four people killed as dry windy weather hampered efforts to contain one of the country's worst-ever fire outbreaks.

Early Tuesday, acting Interior and Safety Minister Ko Ki-dong said the wildfires had "so far affected approximately 14,694 hectares (36,310 acres) with damage continuing to grow." 

The extent of damage makes the fires collectively the third largest in South Korea's history. The worst was an April 2000 blaze that scorched 23,913 hectares (59,090 acres) across the east coast.

"Strong winds, dry weather, and haze are hampering firefighting efforts," Ko told a disaster and safety meeting.

The government is "mobilising all available resources", he said.

The government declared a state of emergency in four regions, citing "the extensive damage caused by simultaneous wildfires" and thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate.

Late Tuesday, authorities in Andong issued an emergency alert to residents of the historic Hahoe Folk Village -- a UNESCO-listed world heritage site popular with tourists -- as the blaze drew closer.

"The Uiseong Angye wildfire is moving in the direction," of the area, the alert said. "Residents are requested to evacuate immediately."

In Uiseong, the sky was full of smoke and haze, AFP reporters saw, with the Korea Forest Service saying the containment rate for the fire in that area had decreased from 60 to 55 percent Tuesday.

Early in the morning, workers at the Gounsa Temple, which was more than 1,000-years-old, were attempting to move valuable artefacts and cover up Buddhist statues to protect them from possible damage.

"We used fire retardant blankets," Joo Jung-wan, Gyeongbuk Seobu Cultural Heritage Care Center worker told AFP, saying that a giant gilded Buddha statue was too large to move so had been carefully covered.

Hours later, an official at the Korea Heritage Service told AFP that the temple had been burned down.

"It is very heartbreaking and painful to see the precious temples that are over a thousand years old being lost," monk Deung-woon told AFP.

Family grave

More than 6,700 firefighters have been deployed to battle the wildfires, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, with nearly two-fifths of the personnel dispatched to Uiseong.

Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.

Other phenomena, such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms can result from a combination of complex factors.

In Daegu and the North Gyeongsang region, "the air is extremely dry and strong winds are blowing, creating the risk that even a small spark could quickly spread into a large wildfire", an official from the local meteorological administration said.

The fire in Uiseong was reportedly caused by a person who was tending to a family grave site and accidentally triggered the conflagration, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

"Most wildfires are caused by human negligence and the public should strictly follow wildfire prevention guidelines," he added.

Neighbouring Japan was also experiencing wildfires over the weekend, with blazes in multiple areas.

Japan saw the country's worst wildfire in more than half a century early this month. It engulfed about 2,900 hectares -- around half the size of Manhattan -- and killed at least one person.

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