Cold snap grips drags temperatures as low as -20 C, but chill to ease by weekend

Citizens are seen commuting in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)

Morning temperatures fell to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius in South Korea on Friday, with Seoul, Incheon and other major cities seeing frosty weathers of around minus 10 degrees.

Hwacheon-gun in Gangwon Province had the lowest temperature in the country as of 6 a.m., with minus 20.2 degrees Celsius, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Cheorwon in the same province saw the temperature fall to -20 C, with the neighboring city of Pyeongchang hitting minus 19.9 degrees.

Temperature in the greater Seoul region also marked significant drop Friday morning, with the nation's capital Seoul seeing a low of -11 C. In Incheon, the temperature dropped to -11.3 C, while Paju and Pocheon near the de facto inter-Korean border saw their temperatures drop to -16.7 C and -16.5 C, respectively.

Relatively-warmer regions in the south also recorded low temperatures of minus 7 degrees in Gwangju, -7.3 Cin Daegu, minus 5.8 degrees in Busan, with Jeju Island recording around 0.6 C. But the mountain regions of Jeju also reportedly chilled to around -12 C.

The strong wind observed across the country drove down the perceived temperature even further, around -17 C for Seoul.

Freezing temperatures are expected to continue at least until Saturday morning, with lows of -14 C expected for some regions. Lows for Seoul and Incheon are expected at -8 C .

The temperature on Saturday afternoon is expected to rise to the average level for this time of the year. Seoul's daily high is expected to be 2 degrees, while Busan and Jeju will see higher temperatures of up to 7 and 9 degrees, respectively.