Landslides Due To Heavy Rain, South Korea Suspends Regular Routes And Slows Bullet Trains

Illustration - Landslide (Unsplash/Kamile Leonaviviciute)

JAKARTA - South Korea's national rail company on Wednesday suspended several regular routes and slowed down bullet trains due to heavy rains in the central region that caused flooding and landslides. Gunsan City received nearly 100 mm (4 inches) of rainfall within an hour earlier on Wednesday, July 10. A number of areas in the area are receiving rainfall of more than 200 mm a day, according to weather agencies. Reporting from Reuters, the Ministry of Home Affairs reported four people killed and property, roads, and infrastructure heavily damaged. "There is a landslide warning in more than 50 areas and more than 3,500 people displaced," the Ministry of Home Affairs reported. Korail, a national rail service, said the Saemaeul and Magunghwa trains had been suspended on six central regional routes, with some services suspended for several hours and a few to midnight. The KTX bullet train is operating but is traveling at lower speeds in some areas, Korail said.

July each year is a rainy season in the country but has experienced extreme weather in the summer months in recent years, which President Yoon Suk Yeol said should be anticipated due to climate change.