LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Now to East Asia, where many countries are sweltering under record temperatures. The heat is especially risky for rapidly aging societies in South Korea and Japan. Governments there treat heat waves as natural disasters and are mobilizing resources to beat the heat. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul.
(SOUNDBITE OF CICADAS BUZZING)
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE: A deafening crescendo of cicadas cuts through the midday heat. Over the weekend, the mercury hit 108 degrees in the city of Yangsan, the hottest in over a century of weather records in South Korea. Twenty-one people have died from heat-related illnesses in South Korea. In Japan, the heat wave complicated the response to an earthquake that killed 38 people and displaced thousands in Kumamoto prefecture. In Seoul, residents dabble their feet in Cheonggyecheon, a natural stream that the city turned into a downtown park. Seven-year-old Summer Han (ph) is back from Seattle to visit family.
SUMMER HAN: Me and my grandma - it's so hot, so we only keep inside. It's so hot.
KUHN: Summer's mother, Mijin Jung (ph), says she's concerned about her parents.
MIJIN JUNG: (Through interpreter) I am extremely worried because the air conditioning is hard for them to endure in small enclosed Korean homes. So even if it's hot, we try to find a place like Cheonggyecheon or a valley stream to dip our feet in.
KUHN: Heat waves claim far more lives every year in South Korea and Japan than other natural disasters. Most of the victims are elderly. President Lee Jae Myung told his aides that the government must quickly adapt to the new normal and protect citizens' lives.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT LEE JAE MYUNG: (Speaking Korean).
KUHN: "We are effectively facing a national climate disaster," he said. "We must respond with greater urgency than ever before, maximizing the level, scope and speed of our policy responses." That includes everything from ensuring water and power supplies to checking up on elderly residents. Back at the stream, Mijin Jung says she uses some of the same tricks to keep her kids cool that her parents used on her.
JUNG: (Through interpreter) I find it fascinating that some of the old ways still apply to our modern society. My back feels cool after eating something like mango shaved ice, and the kids say, ah, I feel like my head just froze.
KUHN: Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.
(SOUNDBITE OF LOWERCASE NOISES' "THIS IS FOR OUR SINS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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