PERSONAL: 'Memories of youth' lost after wildfire destroys South Korean farmer's home

Record ID: 1985511

  • Title: PERSONAL: 'Memories of youth' lost after wildfire destroys South Korean farmer's home
  • Date: 24th March 2025
  • Summary: SANCHEONG COUNTY, SOUTH KOREA (MARCH 24, 2025) (REUTERS) SOUTH KOREAN RESIDENT OF SANCHEONG, 64-YEAR-OLD KIM BYUNG-WOOK, STANDING IN FRONT OF HIS BURNT HOUSE VARIOUS OF RUBBLE AND ASH OF KIM'S HOUSE EXTERIOR OF KIM HOUSE WHICH WAS COMPLETELY BURNT OUT KIM EXPLAINING ABOUT HIS HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN FARMER AND RESIDENT OF SANCHEONG, 64-YEAR-OLD KIM BYUNG-WO
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Sancheong South Korea fire forest resident wildfire
  • Location: SANCHEONG COUNTY, SOUTH KOREA
  • City: SANCHEONG COUNTY, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Disaster/Accidents,Wildfires/Forest Fires,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001121324032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:South Korean farmer Kim Byung-wook said he lost more than his house and farm to a fast-moving deadly wildfire - he also lost many memorabilia and photos of his youth.
    Kim has lived in Sancheong county for more than 30 years, where he runs wild pine mushroom, bee and dried persimmon farms.
    On the night of Friday (March 21), he said the fire suddenly moved to his village after strong winds hit the mountain.
    “My house was completely burned down,” Kim told Reuters on Monday (March 24) in front of his house.
    Next to Kim’s house and persimmon farms, many other houses were completely burnt out, with the frames of destroyed buildings and charred rubble seen on the ground. Helicopters and fire engines were also on the scene as smoke smoldered in the nearby mountains.
    "Things that remind me of my youth disappeared without a trace...I lost my memory of youth," Kim said.
    As of 8 p.m. local time (1100GMT) on Monday, about 85 percent of the blaze had been extinguished in Sancheong county. More than 1,100 residents have been evacuated, while 60 houses and buildings were damaged, according to South Korea's Fire Service.
    In total, at least four people have died and six have been injured in a series of wildfires in South Korea, as firefighters rushed to put out the fires amid dry, windy weather, the Korea Forest Service said on Sunday (March 23).
    Over 9,000 staff and 105 helicopters were deployed to quell the fires engulfing areas mostly in the southeast of the country, authorities said.
    The fires had wiped out some 6,300 hectares (16,000 acres) of forests, Acting President Choi Sang-mok told a disaster response meeting on Sunday.
    (Production: Daewoung Kim, Minwoo Park)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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