Over 5,000 people in South Korea have taken refuge in shelters as relentless rainfall lashed parts of the country for a third straight day, claiming at least four lives and causing widespread damage to property and infrastructure, according to the safety ministry on Friday (July 18). Torrential rain warnings remained in effect across much of the western and southern regions, with the weather agency urging the public to be extremely cautious of potential landslides and flooding through Saturday.

Some southern areas, including Gwangju, experienced record-breaking rainfall—exceeding 400 millimetres in the 24 hours leading up to early Friday, the ministry reported. The heavy rains have resulted in four confirmed deaths, with one person still missing. Two individuals died after becoming trapped in vehicles on submerged roads, and another perished in a flooded basement in South Chungcheong province. Additionally, a driver was killed on Wednesday in Osan, about 44 kilometers south of Seoul, when a 10-meter-high wall collapsed onto their moving car, according to fire officials.

President Lee Jae-myung, who has consistently emphasized enhancing the government's disaster preparedness and response, stated that while natural disasters cannot be fully avoided, better forecasting and warnings could reduce the impact. "There were avoidable casualties due to inadequate response in situations that could have been foreseen," he said during an emergency weather briefing on Friday, urging full mobilization of resources to address the crisis.