Typhoon-like strong winds have devastated Mt. Seorak mountain climbers..."Late entry control".

[Anchor]
Around the mountains of Gangwon Province and the east coast, where strong winds were issued, typhoon-like strong winds of more than 35 meters per second caused damage.

In Mt. Seorak, a tree broken by strong winds hit a hiker, killing one person and injuring three others.

Critics say that preventive measures were insufficient because the mountain was not controlled even though a strong wind warning was issued.

Reporter Song Se-hyuk reports.

[Reporter]
A hiking trail near Ulsan Rock on Seoraksan Mountain.

A beautiful fir tree is lying down and rescuers give first aid to injured hikers.

At around 8:40 a.m., a broken tree hit the hikers with winds of up to 30 m/s.One man in his 60s was killed in the

accident, and three others suffered minor injuries to their shoulders and legs.

[Injured hiker: I started controlling it after the accident. We wouldn't have gone up if we had (controlled).]

A strong wind warning was issued for Mt. Seorak at 3 a.m., but the Mt. Seorak office only controlled the mountain at 9 a.m. after the accident.

[According to Seoraksan National Park Office (voice-over): We didn't expect an accident due to strong winds. And since it is not mandatory to control the entry (in the event of a strong wind warning), controlling the strong wind will lead to a flood of complaints from visitors.]

Damages to facilities caused by strong winds also continued nationwide.

The Hantan River Festival Hall in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, was turned into a chaos due to strong winds that collapsed tents and tangled equipment.

In Sokcho and Gangneung, the roofs of houses were torn off, and roads were once blocked or electricity was cut off by fallen trees.

In Seoraksan Mountain, typhoon-like strong winds of up to 35 meters per second were recorded, and gusts of around 30 meters per second were recorded around the east and west coasts.

[Gangwon Provincial Meteorological Agency: The low pressure that developed into the northern sea of the East Sea passed and the high pressure was located in the southwest of Korea, causing a large difference in air pressure between the two Koreas. (Strong winds)]

Dozens of reports have been received in Gangwon Province alone, including trees falling or windows breaking.

I'm YTN's Song Sehyuk.

Filmmaker: Kim Dong-cheol
Courtesy of the screen: Gangwon Fire Headquarters