Heavy snowfall brings chaos and cheer as it blankets South Korea

For some in South Korea’s capital Seoul, the heavy snowfall brought a winter wonderland, scenes reminiscent of a picture postcard. For others it was fatal.

Armed with umbrellas and wrapped up in warm clothing, some braved the cold to walk around the grounds of the city’s ancient Gyeongbokgung Palace.

At the same site several young women wore traditional hanbok dresses to pose for selfies despite the frigid conditions.

This week’s winter snowfall was the third-heaviest in Seoul since records began in 1907, the Yonhap news agency reported Thursday, citing data from the city. More than 16 inches had piled up, it said.

And with it came travel chaos as dozens of flights were canceled, ferry operations suspended and roads an icy mess.

Traffic accidents on highways east of the capital killed at least two more and police told Reuters that 11 people were injured on Wednesday evening in a 53-vehicle pile-up on a highway in the central city of Wonju. They were among five people reported dead.

Hundreds of schools were also shuttered by the unusually heavy November snow that has been attributed to the warmer-than-usual temperatures of seawaters west of the Korean peninsula encountering currents of cold air.