South Korea Hit by Heavy Rain, KTX High-Speed ​​Train Slows Down

KTX Fast Train In Gangneung, Gangwon Do South Korea/UNSPLASH/Seungmin Yoon

JAKARTA - South Korea's national railway company has suspended several regular routes and slowed down bullet trains due to heavy rain in the central region that caused flooding and landslides.

The city of Gunsan was hit by nearly 100 mm of rain in an hour on Wednesday, July 10 morning. Some areas in the central region received more than 200 mm of rain in a day, according to the weather agency.

The Interior Ministry reported four people were killed. Roads and infrastructure were badly damaged. Landslide warnings were in place in more than 50 areas and more than 3,500 people were forced to evacuate, Reuters reported.

Korail, the national railway service, said Saemaeul and Mugungwha trains were suspended on six central regional routes, with some services halted for several hours and some until midnight.

The KTX bullet train was operating but was traveling at low speed through some areas, Korail said.

July is the country's rainy season every year, but extreme weather has occurred in the summer months in recent years, which President Yoon Suk Yeol said was to be expected due to climate change.