At least 18 dead as ‘unprecedented’ wildfires rage across South Korea

According to officials, wildfires are raging in at least 18 deaths and almost 20 injuries in various locations in South Korea’s southeast where thousands of firefighters and soldiers are battling to contain quickly expanding blazes.

On Wednesday, the sixth day of the fires, which are being fueled by strong and dry winds, the official Yonhap news agency in South Korea reported an death toll of 18 people.

Four victims died in flames after trying to escape the fires, according to Yonhap, but their car flipped over. Late on Tuesday night, they were discovered dead on a road.

As of Wednesday morning, the Korea Forest Service reported that firefighters are currently battling at least five wildfires nationwide.

On March 25, 2025, a wildfire that has devastated Andong county, South Korea, generates smoke. [Yonhap via Reuters]

The wildfires started late on Friday in Northern Gyeongsang province’s Sancheong county, spreading to neighboring Uiseong county, which is located 180 kilometers (111 miles) southeast of Seoul. They have since spread to Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang, and Yeongdeok counties.

More than 17, 000 hectares (42,000 acres) of forest have been burned, including the more than 1, 000-year-old Gounsa temple in Uiseong, while authorities in Andong and other southeastern cities and towns have compelled residents to flee as firefighters battle to contain the fires, which have burned more than 1, 000 acres of forest (42, 000 acres) of forest.

Yonhap reported that other parts of the nation were where national treasures were kept safe in the Buddhist temple, which was constructed in 681.

As the blaze got closer, authorities also issued an emergency alert for Hahoe Folk Village, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site well-known among tourists in Andong county.

A representative from the Korea Heritage Service stated that the wildfire is currently about 8 kilometers (4,9 miles) away from Hahoe Village, adding that dozens of firefighters are on standby and are spraying water around the building to stop it from spreading.

A man sprays water onto a thatched roof for the approaching wildfire in Andong Hahoe Folk Village, in Andong, South Korea, on March 25, 2025. Inhabitants of a UNESCO-listed village were ordered to evacuate while a historic Buddhist temple was burned to the ground as South Korea scrambled to contain worsening wildfires, which are tearing across the country's southeast. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP) — In Andong’s Hahoe Folk Village, South Korea, on Tuesday, a man sprays water on a shingled roof.

The fire in Uiseong displayed “unimaginable” scale and speed, according to Lee Byung-doo, an expert on forest disasters at the nation’s National Institute of Forest Science.

The raging fires, according to acting South Korean president Han Duck-soo, had already outperformed all previous forecasts for a catastrophe of this magnitude.

According to Han, “Wildfires burning for a fifth day straight in the Gyeongsang region are causing unprecedented damage.” He claimed that the fires are “developing in a way that exceeds both existing prediction models and earlier expectations.”

The South Korean military has sent 146 helicopters to combat the fires alongside thousands of firefighters, according to Yonhap, and has assigned an estimated 5, 000 service members.

Additionally, approximately 500 prisoners have been moved to other facilities besides the fire-hazard zone.