SEOUL, January 26 (AJP) -Under the grip of Arctic air, sections of Seoul’s great waterway have begun to harden — ice floes drifting in silence, icicles clinging to embankments where the river meets the city.
What is usually a moving ribbon of steel-gray water now carries the weight of winter, visible and unmistakable.
A severe cold wave continues to blanket South Korea as northerly winds sweep down the peninsula, driving temperatures sharply lower and pushing wind chills well below what thermometers suggest. Cold wave advisories remain in effect for the Seoul metropolitan area, as well as parts of central and inland southeastern regions.
The cold is expected to linger through Monday. Morning lows are forecast to fall as far as minus 15 degrees Celsius, with daytime highs struggling between minus 3 and 8 degrees. Even under clear skies, the air bites.
Along the Han, the transformation is stark. Ice forms where currents slow. Frost traces railings and reeds. The river does not freeze all at once — it stiffens in fragments, mirroring the way winter settles over the city: gradually, insistently.
Authorities have urged the elderly and young children to limit outdoor activities as subzero mornings near minus 10 degrees Celsius persist in central regions. Elsewhere, dry air and strong winds have raised wildfire concerns, particularly in the mountains of Gangwon Province and in coastal and southern areas.
Light snow or rain is expected in parts of the west coast and Jeju Island, but across the country, winds will remain strong — sharpening the cold, carrying it deeper into streets, bridges and riverbanks.
For now, the Han flows on, slowed but not stilled — a frozen reminder that winter, at its peak, reshapes even the most familiar landscapes.
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