Heat-related illness patients in late summer up threefold over past decade: data

The number of heat-related illness cases reported in late summer nearly tripled in the past 10 years, government data showed Saturday. An annual average of 215 heat-related patients were reported from "ipchu" to the end of August during the 2011-2015 period, according to an analysis by a research institute under the interior ministry using data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Ipchu, which falls on Aug. 7 this year, marks the beginning of autumn on the traditional calendar.