July 18, 2025
SEOUL – Casualties began to mount as heavy rain hit South Korea’s western flank, flooding roads, disrupting public transport and causing evacuations in multiple parts of the Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong provinces.
At least four people were killed as torrential rain battered parts of Gyeonggi Province and Chungcheong from early Wednesday to Thursday morning, according to local reports quoting authorities as of 6 p.m.
Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, two cities located in the southern parts of Gyeonggi Province, received more than 80 millimeters of rain per hour on Thursday.
In Osan — a city adjacent to Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, a 10-meter-high retaining wall collapsed, crushing a passing car and killing the driver, a man in his 40s.
Heavy rain was especially prominent in the Chungcheong provinces, including in the city of Seosan, where a driver in his 60s drowned after his car was swept away in the early hours of Thursday. Fire authorities found a man in his 80s who had drowned near the spot where the man in his 60s was discovered at around 11:25 a.m.
Seosan experienced the most intense rainfall of any area, with the rate of precipitation peaking at 114.9 mm per hour.
At 9:35 a.m., two residents were buried under a landslide in Cheongyang-gun, a county in the central area of South Chungcheong Province. Fire officials said the residents, who had sustained injuries to their legs, were found and moved to a local hospital at 9:50 p.m.
Fire authorities also found a man in his 80s dead in a flooded basement in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, operated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the accumulated precipitation was 419.5 mm in Seosan, 411 mm in Hongseong, 376.5 mm in Dangjin and 349.5 mm in Asan, all of which are in South Chungcheong Province.
The coastal county of Taean, west of Seosan, also received more than 300 mm of rain on Thursday.
The ministry stated that 79 households from these areas went through temporary evacuations.
By 10 a.m. on Thursday, the downpour had forced a total of 1,070 residents to evacuate their homes.
Heavy rain also forced areas of South Chungcheong Province, including Yesan and Hongseong, to close their schools.
The Interior Ministry restricted access to almost 80 underpasses, riverside roads and low-level bridges in the Chungcheong area for public safety.
Alerts for heavy rainfall continued to spread on Thursday as well.
The Korea Meteorological Administration placed heavy rain warnings on Sejong, the Chungcheong provinces and three areas of Gyeonggi Province at 5 a.m. Thursday. A heavy rain warning is declared when 90 mm or more of rain is expected in three hours, or 180 mm or more in 12 hours.
Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Gwangju, and several cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province and Gangwon Province were placed under heavy rain advisories. An advisory is issued when 60 millimeters or more of rainfall is expected in three hours, or 110 mm or more within 12 hours.
In Gwangju, where an initial heavy rain advisory was elevated to a warning at 10:10 a.m. on Thursday, 87 roads and 38 buildings were reportedly found submerged due to torrential rain, while another landslide was reported in Cheongdo-gun, in the southern part of North Gyeongsang Province, according to Yonhap News Agency.
A house reportedly collapsed in a landslide, but detailed information about the accident, including the number of casualties, had yet to be announced as of press time.
Korea Railroad Corp. announced Thursday that it had partially suspended or adjusted the regular train services, including the trains that travel from Seoul to Cheonan, Hongseong, and Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province.
Train services on the Honam Line, connecting the country’s central city of Daejeon to Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, were also suspended as of Thursday afternoon.
Over 374 trails from 15 national parks were cordoned off, and 39 passenger ships from 31 sea routes could not operate as usual due to inclement weather conditions.
The Interior Ministry activated the third stage of its three-stage response stance and raised the heavy rain alert to “severe,” the highest level in the four-level system.
“As additional heavy rain is expected to fall across the country, the government will make its utmost effort to respond to the situation and minimize casualties,” said Kim Min-jae, the acting Interior Minister and head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, during a government response meeting on Thursday.
“We will mobilize all available resources to respond to the torrential rain. We earnestly request all citizens to refrain from going outside during the periods of heavy rainfall and avoid lowlands, riverbanks and areas at risk of landslides,” Kim added.
The emergency headquarters instructed relevant agencies to strengthen their monitoring of areas where landslides or other emergencies could occur due to the rain and to evacuate people in those areas if necessary.
The state weather agency forecast that up to 300 mm or more of additional rainfall could hit not only the Chungcheong area, but also other southern provinces until Saturday.
