Korea is confronting a new reality. Record-breaking heat and prolonged drought are no longer isolated weather anomalies but defining features of a changing climate. As temperatures soar to unprecedented levels, the consequences are rippling through every aspect of society — from food prices and energy security to public health and economic productivity. The era of treating heat waves as seasonal inconveniences has come to an end. Extreme heat has become a national crisis demanding a fundamental shift in public policy. The most immediate impact is being felt at the dinner table. Unrelenting heat has devastated agricultural production, sending the prices of vegetables such as spinach, cucumbers, cabbage and carrots sharply higher. Livestock and aquaculture have also suffered heavy losses, with hundreds of thousands of farm animals and fish dying from heat stress. The result is a classic case of "heatflation," in which extreme temperatures drive up food prices and place an additional burden on already strained household budgets. Although headline inflation has eased somewhat due to lowe