Temple burned, UNESCO-site evacuated as South Korea wildfires spread

UISEONG — Inhabitants of a UNESCO-listed village were ordered to evacuate while a historic Buddhist temple was burned to the ground as South Korea scrambled to contain worsening wildfires, which are tearing across the country's southeast.

More than a dozen different blazes broke out over the weekend; with four people killed as dry windy weather hampered efforts to contain one of the countries worst-ever fire outbreaks, prompting the government to transfer thousands of prisoners. 

Early on Tuesday, acting Interior and Safety Minister Ko Ki-dong said the wildfires had "so far affected approximately 14,694 hectares with damage continuing to grow". 

The extent of damage makes the fires collectively the third largest in South Korea's history. The worst was an April 2000 blaze that scorched 23,913 hectares across the east coast.

"Strong winds, dry weather, and haze are hampering fire fighting efforts," Ko told a disaster and safety meeting.

The government declared a state of emergency in four regions, citing "the extensive damage caused by simultaneous wildfires" and thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate.

"The wind was so strong that I couldn't stand still," Kwon So-han, a 79-year-old resident in Andong told AFP. 

"The fire came from the mountain and fell on my house.

"Those who haven't experienced it won't know. I could only bring my body."

Late on Tuesday, authorities in Andong issued an emergency alert to residents of the historic Hahoe Folk Village,  a UNESCO-listed world heritage site popular with tourists,  as the blaze drew closer.

"The Uiseong Angye wildfire is moving in the direction" of that area, the alert said. "Residents are requested to evacuate immediately."

In Uiseong, the sky was full of smoke and haze, AFP reporters saw, with the Korea Forest Service saying that the containment rate for the fire in that area had decreased from 60 to 55 per cent on Tuesday.

Early in the morning, workers at the Gounsa Temple, which was more than a thousand years old, were attempting to move valuable artefacts and cover up Buddhist statues to protect them from possible damage.

"We used fire retardant blankets," Joo Jung-wan, a Gyeongbuk Seobu Cultural Heritage Care Centre worker told AFP, saying that a giant gilded Buddha statue was too large to move so had been carefully covered.

Hours later, an official at the Korea Heritage Service told AFP that the temple had been burnt down.

"It is very heartbreaking and painful to see the precious temples that are over a thousand years old being lost," monk Deung-woon told AFP.

Around 3,500 inmates from correctional facilities in the southeastern county of Cheongsong and Andong are being transferred to nearby prisons, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the justice ministry.