People make a wish for the New Year on Mt. Acha in Seoul on Tuesday.

Unrelenting cold weather persisted on New Year's Day. The Korea Meteorological Administration issued a cold weather alert for Seoul on Wednesday for the first time this winter.

The morning low in Seoul dipped to -14 degrees Celsius Wednesday and will fall to -16 degrees Thursday, the KMA predicted.

Cold weather alerts are issued when the morning low is expected to stay below -12 degrees Celsius for more than two days.

The freezing weather will persist in Seoul with morning temperatures at -14 degrees Friday, -11 degrees Saturday, and -7 degrees Sunday, the KMA forecast.

It attributed the current cold weather to a cold Siberian airmass spreading over to the Korean Peninsula.

Weatherman Chang Hyun-sik predicted the cold weather will persist until at least mid-January.

Meanwhile, December 2012 was the coldest in 45 years in Seoul, with average temperatures at -4.1 degrees during the month, down 4.5 degrees from previous years, the KMA said. The year 1967 saw the coldest December in Seoul with average temperatures at -4.9 degrees.