South Korea needs to swiftly help people hit by wildfires, overhaul response system South Korea has suffered the worst wildfire disaster in its history in the past week, which has left a horrifying scar on the country’s southeastern region. The unprecedented destruction and the casualties not only saddened people across the nation but also raised serious questions about South Korea’s capacity to handle large-scale natural disasters like wildfires. The massive wildfires, which started March 22 and spread rapidly to ravage North Gyeongsang Province for a week, were largely contained as of Friday.
But firefighters had to deal with wildfires reignited in other parts of the province early Saturday. And another large wildfire in South Gyeongsang Province was yet to be fully contained as of early Sunday. The scale of the destruction is staggering.
According to the Korea Forest Service, the wildfires are estimated to have burned around 48,000 hectares of woodland — an area nearly 80 percent of the size of Seoul. The wildfires also destroyed an estimated 4,000 structures, including Gounsa, a centuries-old Buddhist temple. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said Saturday the death toll from the fires reached 30, with dozens of people injured.
As for the initial cause of the wildfires, police said Sunday that they have booked a 56-year-old man for allegedly causing a fire at a family grave in Uiseong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, that quickly spread to .
