Credit: Public domain.
South Korea is experiencing a record heat wave. On July 8, Seoul recorded a high of 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit), the hottest recorded temperature for early July since modern meteorological data was first compiled in 1907.
The record-setting heat wave has caused a record number of heat strokes. More than 1.5k people went to emergency rooms for heat-related conditions between May 20 and July 13, three times the number for the same period last year. Nine died, including a 50-year-old construction worker in Incheon 인천 on July 6, and a 23-year-old Vietnamese migrant factory worker in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province 경상북도 구미 on July 7.
The National Human Rights Commission 국가인권위원회 issued a statement on July 11 calling for the government to improve labor conditions in cases of severe heat, for example by mandating a 20-minute rest period for every two hours of work.
