Mercury Plummets After Heavy Snow

Heavy snow and rain over the weekend made for icy road conditions as the mercury plummeted across the country on Monday morning.

The Korea Meteorological Administration issued a cold wave alert for parts of Gangwon Province, Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province.

Morning lows fell to -8 degrees Celsius in Seoul, Incheon and Suwon on Monday while those hovered between -2 degrees and -7 degrees in other areas like Chuncheon in Gangwon Province, Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju.

Misiryeong Pass in Gangwon Province saw 59.5 cm of snow until 7 p.m. Sunday, Yangyang 17.5 cm, Sokcho 16.1 cm and Gangneung 14.2 cm with more expected.

The snow was mostly wet and prone to clumping, causing numerous traffic accidents in mountainous areas, with cars trapped in a blizzard for more than an hour.

Some highways were shut down and flights were canceled.