Anchor: Sweltering heat has enveloped the nation, with the local weather agency forecasting the scorcher to extend into next week. With such conditions permeating globally, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that “the era of global boiling has arrived.”
Tom McCarthy has the details.

Report: The monsoon season in South Korea has quickly given way to stifling temperatures that are setting off alarm bells worldwide.

The conditions prompted UN Secretary-General António Guterres to warn on Thursday that global warming is rapidly giving way to "global boiling."

[Sound bite: António Guterres – secretary-general of the United Nations]
“Climate change is here, it is terrifying, and it is just the beginning. The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived. The air is unbreathable, the heat is unbearable, and the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable.”

Domestically, the Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA) forecast afternoon highs between 31 and 34 degrees Celsius to afflict Seoul through next week, higher than the average of 30 to 31 degrees.

The extreme afternoon highs will extend into tropical nights, with morning lows above 25 degrees.

The oppressive weather is affecting the entire country, with 81 areas under heat wave warnings, which are issued when highs are expected to surpass 35 degrees for at least two consecutive days.

The KMA said that the country has come under the influence of the North Pacific heat front , which has expanded its reaches to China’s inland areas.

The semi-permanent, subtropical area of high pressure in the ocean brings the hot and humid weather that has become the signature of South Korean summers. 
Tom McCarthy, KBS World Radio News.