What happened
Wildfires that have killed 28 people in South Korea are the largest in the country's history, according to officials.
Who said what
More than 35,000 hectares of forest have been burned, said Lee Han-kyung, disaster and safety division chief, adding that the fires were still spreading "rapidly".
"These wildfires have once again exposed the harsh reality of a climate crisis unlike anything we've experienced before," said Lee.
Strong wind gusts, dense forest and unusually dry weather is the "deadly combination" fuelling the enormous wildfires, said the BBC. Historical relics have also been burned down, including two temples that were more than 1,000 years old – a "significant loss to an area considered one of South Korea's cultural centres".
The South Korean fires, as well as a series of wildfires that broke out in Japan last week, have been fuelled by human-induced climate change, according to a new rapid analysis released by a group of European researchers.
"The wildfires in eastern Asia in March 2025, strengthened by human-driven climate change, underscore the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, stressing the urgent need to tackle the rising impacts of climate change," said Carmen Alvarez Castro, a Spanish researcher involved in the study.
What next?
Officials reported that South Korea's firefighters had almost managed to contain the biggest wildfires before gusty winds and dry conditions reignited them. | 
