Heavy snow of up to 40 cm blankets Seoul for 2nd day

Heavy snow blanketed South Korea's capital area for the second consecutive day Thursday, with up to 40 centimeters of snowfall seen in parts of Seoul.

A heavy snow advisory was in effect in all of Seoul as the accumulated snowfall reached 40.2 cm in Gwanak Ward and 27.1 cm in Seongbuk Ward.

On Wednesday, Seoul saw the heaviest November snowfall since modern weather observations began in 1907, with 16.5 cm of snowfall. The record coincided with the first snow of the season in the city.

Traffic was brought to a slowdown not only in Seoul but also in the surrounding capital region as authorities blocked entry to some roads, including in the eastern Gwangjin Ward, where a tree had fallen, apparently under the weight of snow.

The Korea Railroad Corp. said some subway lines were experiencing delays as workers removed snow and branches from tracks.

The company said it planned to put an additional 10 trains into operation on subway lines in the capital area, including Line 1 and the Gyeongui-Central Line, to ease congestion during the morning rush hour.

The Seoul metropolitan government said more than 11,000 personnel and nearly 20,000 pieces of equipment were mobilized to remove snow from roads.

On the subway, rush hour operations, when trains come in more frequent intervals, were extended by 30 minutes from 7 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. in the morning and from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the evening.

Heavy snow advisories were in place in other parts of the country as well, including Chuncheon, Wonju and Hoengseong in Gangwon Province. (Yonhap)