Exposed riverbed at Gangneung’s water supply source (Yonhap)
GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — For residents of Gangneung, disaster is a familiar rhythm of life. Over the past quarter century, the coastal city on South Korea’s east coast has endured some of the nation’s worst natural calamities: typhoons, catastrophic wildfires, record-breaking snowfalls. Now, it faces what officials call the worst drought in its history.
On Saturday, the government declared a disaster state for Gangneung — the first ever for a natural drought — after water levels at Obong Reservoir, which supplies 87 percent of the city’s household water, fell to a record-low 15.3 percent. The shortfall forced officials to impose emergency rationing, locking household water meters by half and, in some neighborhoods, by as much as 75 percent.
With no meaningful rainfall forecast, fire trucks from across the country have been dispatched to deliver thousands of tons of water daily to the city’s main purification plant. Residents, meanwhile, have mobilized in voluntary conservation campaigns, limiting use to the bare minimum.
The large-scale wildfire at Gyeongpo in April 2023. Gangneung’s position, caught between the Taebaek Mountains and the East Sea, makes it especially prone to what residents grimly describe as the “three calamities”: water, fire, and wind. (Yonhap)
A Legacy of Repeated Trauma
Gangneung’s location, wedged between the Taebaek Mountains and the East Sea, leaves it uniquely vulnerable to what locals grimly call the “three calamities” of water, fire and wind.
In 2002, Typhoon Rusa dumped 870.5 millimeters of rain in a single day — the heaviest since records began — killing 46 people and causing more than $700 million in damages. Just a year later, Typhoon Maemi compounded the scars.
The city has also seen some of Korea’s largest wildfires. In 2000, flames swept coastal forests from Goseong to Samcheok, scorching an area 27 times the size of Yeouido, a central Seoul district. More recently, the 2023 Gyeongpo blaze destroyed over 120 hectares near one of the country’s most popular beaches.
Winter, too, has brought catastrophe. In 2014, Gangneung endured 11 consecutive days of heavy snow, burying the city under 1.8 meters — the deepest and longest-lasting snowfall in its modern history. Tens of thousands of soldiers, police officers, and volunteers were mobilized just to dig the city out.
On August 31, 2002, Typhoon Rusa devastated Gangneung and much of Korea’s eastern coast. Gangneung’s position, caught between the Taebaek Mountains and the East Sea, makes it especially prone to what residents grimly describe as the “three calamities”: water, fire, and wind.(Yonhap)
Bracing for the Future
The recurrence of such disasters has left many residents living with what they describe as “disaster trauma,” a lingering fear that the next storm, fire, or drought could again upend their lives.
Still, officials and citizens alike stress resilience. “We’ve faced typhoons, wildfires, snowstorms — and now drought,” one resident said. “Each time, we’ve endured together.”
As Gangneung braces for weeks, perhaps months, of water scarcity, its residents once again find themselves at the front line of South Korea’s climate and disaster challenges — unbowed but wary of what the next season might bring.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
