Record heat is becoming an economic crisis as well as a health emergency

Deaths, livestock losses and damaged crops are turning Korea’s extreme summer into a test of climate adaptation, food supply and protection for vulnerable workers.

The heatwave is now producing damage far beyond uncomfortable temperatures. At least 31 deaths have been reported, along with large losses of livestock and farmed fish, while farmers report crop failures caused by overheated soil.

That makes this both a public-health story and an economic one. The question for Korea is shifting from how to survive a record-breaking summer to how infrastructure, agriculture and labor rules should adapt if summers like this become more common.