Yangsan in South Gyeongsang Province reached 42.5 degrees Celsius at 1:26 p.m. on Sunday, August 2. The government has raised the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to Level 2, and all of Seoul now sits under a heat wave warning (폭염경보). Why Yangsan Became the EpicenterThe Korea Meteorological Administration attributes the extreme readings to two high-pressure systems stacking over the peninsula at once. South Gyeongsang alone logged 161 cases, passing Seoul's 158 despite having about a third of the capital's population. Koreabridge covered what this typhoon season may bring in July, before the heat wave took hold.