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South Korea Climate
Unavailable
Figure 5. Average Annual Rainfall
Part of the East Asian monsoonal region, South Korea has a
temperate climate with four distinct seasons. The movement of air
masses from the Asian continent exerts greater influence on South
Korea's weather than does air movement from the Pacific Ocean.
Winters are usually long, cold, and dry, whereas summers are
short, hot, and humid. Spring and autumn are pleasant but short
in duration. Seoul's mean temperature in January is -5° C to -
2.5° C; in July the mean temperature is about 22.5° C to
25° C.
Because of its southern and seagirt location, Cheju Island has
warmer and milder weather than other parts of South Korea. Mean
temperatures on Cheju range from 2.5° C in January to 25°
C in
July.
The country generally has sufficient rainfall to sustain its
agriculture. Rarely does less than 75 centimeters of rain fall in
any given year; for the most part, rainfall is over 100
centimeters. Amounts of precipitation, however, can vary from
year to year. Serious droughts occur about once every eight
years, especially in the rice-producing southwestern part of the
country. About two-thirds of the annual precipitation occurs
between June and September.
South Korea is less vulnerable to typhoons than Japan,
Taiwan, the east coast of China, or the Philippines. From one to
three typhoons can be expected per year. Typhoons usually pass
over South Korea in late summer, especially in August, and bring
torrential rains
(see
fig. 5). Flooding occasionally causes
considerable damage. In September 1984, record floods caused the
deaths of 190 people and left 200,000 homeless. This disaster
prompted the North Korean government to make an unprecedented
offer of humanitarian aid in the form of rice, medicine, clothes,
and building materials. South Korea accepted these items and
distributed them to flood victims.
Data as of June 1990
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