On the 4th of March, a wildfire broke out in the eastern coastal county of Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province. The fire has yet to be contained on the sixth day and has fast spread to the wider east coast area, including Samcheok, Gangwon province. Months of severe winter drought caused by the climate crisis have fuelled the wildfire.
More than 210 square kilometres of land, an area about one-third the size of Seoul, has been destroyed. The fire charred some part of Geumgang Pine Habitat of Uljin, a protected red pine forest, and the blaze almost threatened a nuclear power plant and LNG facilities in the region.
Governments must end their harmful addiction to fossil fuels and help prevent this horrible cycle of destruction.