South Korea heatwave deaths reach 19 as Seoul swelters

South Korea's heat-related summer death toll reached 19 on Tuesday as record-setting temperatures left residents in Seoul's affluent Gangnam district divided by access to air conditioning.

Seoul was under a severe heatwave warning on Tuesday for the first time since the category was introduced this year. South Korea has set new all-time temperature highs three times in the past week, peaking at 42.5C on Sunday.

In Guryong Village, one of Seoul's last shanty towns, residents described headaches, stifling indoor heat and limited access to air conditioning or reliable electricity as outside temperatures rose as high as 38C. Officials say the settlement has about 160 households.

One resident, identified by her surname Jeong, said she could not afford to cool the one-room home she shares with her husband and disabled daughter. Ko Jae-ok, 87, said handheld battery-powered fans discarded by wealthier Seoul residents gave little relief.

Baek Su-hyun, 65, said that when it is 35C outside, it is over 40C inside. He said residents lie outside in the shade because they cannot stay indoors.

Nearby homes in Gangnam sell for up to 5.4 billion won, or $3.7 million, and many have air conditioning and modern amenities.

Local authorities have converted a community centre into an emergency heat shelter and distributed 67 million won worth of cooling appliances to vulnerable households in Gangnam. The weather agency warned Tuesday of “life-threatening heat”, and Seoul residents received mass text messages advising them to stay inside.

Official data cited in the story showed that in 2025 the richest 20% of South Korea's population held average net assets 45 times those of the poorest 20%. Vladimir Tikhonov, a Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo, said Guryong symbolised the alienation of South Korea's urban poor and that lack of air conditioning put residents' health in grave, possibly deadly, danger.