Record cold grips Korean Peninsula

The original headline called it a “cold snap.”

A prolonged cold spell has sent the mercury plummeting nationwide, with temperatures dropping to their lowest levels in decades, the country’s weather agency said.

The South Korean capital city of Seoul recorded a temperature of minus 16.5 C in the morning, the lowest in 27 years since a minus 16.9 C was recorded in 1986, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.

A cold wave watch for Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi Province, and a cold wave alert for the central part of the country have been issued, the agency said.

The morning low dropped to minus 24.3 C, the lowest temperature in the country, in Cheorwon, a mountainous town near the inter-Korean border, according to the KMA. Temperatures were recorded at minus 24.1 C in Paju, a border town in Gyeonggi Province, and minus 22.6 C in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.

The low temperatures caused water pipes to freeze and burst across the country, including in Seoul where a total of 108 reports were filed overnight, it added.

In North Korea, the morning low plunging to minus 22 C in some regions, according to the weather office.

Citizens in the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang saw the coldest weather with the morning low recorded at minus 19 C, the KMA said.

The wave of exceptionally cold weather will continue and temperatures will remain lower than average all week, with morning lows in Seoul to hover around minus 14 C on Friday morning, it said.

The cold spell is expected to ease around February, it added.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/01/03/67/0302000000AEN20130103005900315F.HTM L

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