At the threshold of autumn

By Park Moo-jong

Sultry, sweltering, smoldering, boiling, burning, flaming, igneous, scorching, sizzling, torrid, hot, etc. This is not a vocabulary test to describe this summer's worst heat wave in 22 years.

What word would help the scorcher that pushed the mercury up to the highest average for nearly a month on the Korean Peninsula?

In an almost perfect eclipse of virtually all records concerning summer weather, the past month was an ordeal to the public, who tossed and turned in their sleep and finally got up in a desperate search for cooler places in the sizzling hot night.

The government's progressive electricity billing system added fuel to the fire amid screaming complaints of citizens who could ill-afford to turn on air conditioners at home for fear of running up extremely high bills.

The weather office played a role in forcing the people to feel "hotter" with its incorrect forecasts of the heat wave.

However, nature blessed the peninsula. The worst-ever heat wave of August disappeared suddenly. As every flow has its ebb, the season is turning to autumn as a matter of course.

Summer 2016 is naturally fading out and will never come back. But the people who suffered the broiling heat day in and day out for the past month will tell anecdotes about 2016 for years to come.

The unexpected retreat of the summer heat owed much to Lionrock, the season's tenth typhoon named after a rock in Hong Kong that made landfall on Japan.

There had been no time in the past when typhoons were welcomed so much, regardless of their past notoriety of bringing natural disaster.

Elsewhere in the world, the situation was similar as experts and environmentalists believe the abnormally long and hot summer was the result of climate change caused by worsening global warming.

Amplifying the stubborn hot summer was internal conflicts and feuds intensified by the never-ending nuclear missile threats of North Korea and disgusting corruption scandals involving high-ranking officials and politicians.

But the unheard-of heat wave and drought were good for the people selling "summer goods."

Well-air-conditioned places like hotels and department stores enjoyed handsome profits thanks to flocking customers, while umbrella makers cried and parasol makers smiled.

Most of the people who had to fight the scorcher without air conditioners this summer must be making up their minds to save money for one next year "without fail," despite the unreasonably high power rates.

What helped the people forget the stubborn heat for a moment this summer was our Olympians' good performances at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, held Aug. 6 to Aug. 22

They won nine gold medals and lifted South Korea to eighth place among 208 participating countries, helping TV audiences make it through the sizzling nights.

As time goes by, autumn sets in with people feeling cool, sometimes even a little chilly.

Just a week after experiencing such painfully hot weather, people have to worry over low temperatures in the morning, being forced to gear up for the coming cold season.

The notorious signature Korean character, namely a quick temper proven by the everyday term "ppalli ppalli (quickly, quickly)," is certainly the result of an abrupt change of weather on the peninsula like that of this summer.

Yesterday, it was so hot. Today, it was so cool. Tomorrow, it may be cold. People living in this part of the world have no way to prepare for the quick climate changes in order to survive. What they have to do first is look into their wardrobes to find long-sleeved clothes.

Rain today, if it comes as weathermen forecast, will accelerate the coming of fall, although the daytime highs still linger around 30 degrees Centigrade.

Yet, bright sunshine in the daytime promises a bumper harvest of grains and fruits and the cool wind refreshes people tired of the summer heat.

With the "normalization" of weather, everything seems to be returning to normal, except for lawmakers, for instance, who are clashing with each other over the emergency extraordinary budget bill of the year ahead of their first regular National Assembly session. Schools are also open again after summer vacation for the second semester.

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer have gone. It's now time for a fresh start in the season of "high sky and plump horses" as an old Korean saying puts it.

There are lots of problems the Republic of Korea has to solve before it's too late. In all spectrums of life, we face pressing questions that must be answered for the national survival, with one of the most urgent things being how to prevent a split in national opinion facing the threats of the totalitarian North Korean leadership.

How about breathing in this cool breeze of the season to calm down our quick tempers, though a little?

Park Moo-jong is The Korea Times advisor. He had served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after having worked as a reporter of the daily since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com.