South Korea considers declaring disaster zone due to record snowfall

On December 1, the South Korean Ministry of the Interior said it had established a task force to help overcome the consequences of the unusually heavy snowfall at the end of November.

Specifically, on November 27-28, the capital Seoul and surrounding areas of Gyeonggi province and several central provinces of Korea suffered record snowfall, causing casualties and major property damage.

Observation data shows that if only November is considered, this is the heaviest snowfall in the past 117 years since modern meteorological observations began being collected in Seoul in 1907.

The Ministry of the Interior plans to conduct a field survey and consider the possibility of designating special disaster zones for heavily damaged areas.

On November 30 alone, the government mobilized 2,639 officials and workers to clear snow in 11 cities and urban areas and inspect affected facilities.

Preliminary statistics show that cities and counties in southern Gyeonggi Province were hit hardest, with Anseong City reporting eight casualties and property damage worth 35.2 billion won ($25.2 million).

In Gyeonggi Province, nearly 3,000 cases of damaged facilities were reported and more than 400 people remained evacuated to temporary housing.