South Korea Updates Weather Warning System, Adds Extreme Heat Emergency Level

The Korea Meteorological Administration announced a sweeping overhaul of its national weather warning system on Wednesday, introducing a top-tier “extreme heat emergency” alert as the centrepiece of the first major restructuring in 18 years. The new protocol takes effect June 1. It will move the agency beyond the two-tiered advisory system established in 2008.

“Extreme heat emergency” will be triggered when the daily perceived temperature is forecast to hit 38 degrees or when actual mercury readings are expected to eclipse 39 degrees. The threshold is designed to signal a shift from discomfort to a legitimate threat to public health and infrastructure.

Over the past five years, the average number of heatwave days has surged nearly threefold compared to the 1970s.

The average number of tropical nights has risen by the same margin over the same period. A tropical night is defined as the temperature remaining at or above 25 degrees Celsius between 6:01pm and 9am the following day. Such conditions have become far more common, according to the data driving the policy change.

@SCMPNews reported that for decades the arrival of summer in South Korea was heralded by the rhythmic hum of cicadas and the predictable onset of monsoon season. But as climate change rewrites the country’s seasonal script, the government is bracing for a new reality in which scorching afternoons, sleepless tropical nights and record-breaking torrential downpours have moved from anomalies to the new seasonal baseline.

People walked under cooling mists during a heatwave near Seoul City Hall on August 1, 2025.

The scene illustrated the type of conditions the updated warning system now seeks to address more forcefully. The Korea Times published the report at 3:17pm on 13 May 2026. The announcement itself came earlier that Wednesday from the Korea Meteorological Administration.

The overhaul reflects a decade in which extreme heat events have become the new seasonal baseline across the country. Officials determined that the existing two-tier structure no longer matched the frequency and intensity of current weather patterns.