The headquarters said on the 4th that it had lowered the heatwave crisis alert from 'serious' to 'caution' and ended the emergency duty regime operated alongside it. It is the first adjustment in 40 days since the level was raised in late July.

The basis is the temperature trend. Heat advisories have been lifted across most of the country, morning lows have fallen to around 20C, and the number of tropical nights has declined. The weather agency expects temperatures to approach seasonal norms from next week.

Cumulative heat-related illness cases this summer ranked among the highest of the past decade or so. Cases arising during outdoor work and among people aged 65 and over accounted for a large share, which is why repeated advisories to suspend work during peak hours were issued.

The government said protective measures for vulnerable groups continue despite the downgrade. Cooling shelters and welfare checks on older people living alone run until mid-September, and guidance on rest breaks at construction sites and logistics facilities remains.

The matter has practical consequences for the ethnic Chinese community in Korea. Many work in food service, logistics and construction, and rules on suspending work and mandatory breaks shift with the alert level. The smaller the workplace, the more worth checking whether those rules are actually applied.

This paper cautions against reading the downgrade as a sign that summer is over. Localised heat has recurred past mid-September in recent years, and there have been cases where harm followed precisely because preparation loosened after an alert was lowered.