The nation was hit with cold wave Wednesday, with the mercury plunging as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius in inner regions during the morning hours. The Korea Meteorological Administration, South Korea's weather agency, said the cold wave will continue until early next week, while issuing cold wave advisories across the nation.

In Seoul, the temperature fell to minus 11 C on Wednesday morning. With the wind chill, the temperature recorded minus 19.7 C at 7 a.m.

At a briefing Wednesday morning, the KMA said temperatures would briefly rise Thursday, with morning temperatures in Seoul remaining around minus 7 C. But the cold wave advisory, in effect mainly for Gangwon Province and geographically central regions, will remain intact as temperatures fall again Friday and into the weekend.

Morning temperatures will remain between minus 15 and minus 5 C until Friday in the central region, North Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province, where cold wave advisories are expected to remain throughout the week. The temperature will stay below average year statistics until next Monday, said KMA.

The KMA predicted that snow and rain will fall mainly in central regions on Thursday. Snow will move to the west coast and Jeju on the weekend, with a possible heavy snow advisory to be issued, said the KMA adding that passengers who have plans to go by ship or flight should double-check their schedule.

The KMA said special attention should be paid for traffic accidents and pedestrian safety, as the snow, combined with the drastically dropped temperature, is very likely to freeze roads and ground facilities.

Several accidents were reported as snow, rain and strong winds continued from Tuesday night to early Wednesday. In Sejong and South Chungcheong Province trees collapsed on roads due to the weight of snow. In North Chungcheong Province where up to 17 centimeters of snow fell throughout the night, 13 traffic accidents and seven fall accidents were reported as of 9 a.m. Wednesday. There were also 22 reports of vehicles stopped on frozen roads.

Due to the weather, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety issued an emergency production order to 18 pharmaceutical companies that produce acetaminophen-based drugs, which are widely used as antipyretic analgesics, in preparation for winter cold and the resurgence of COVID-19 cases. The emergency production order period runs until next April, and there is a possibility that it may be adjusted according to the COVID-19 situation in the future, it said.

The measure is based on the government's plan to supply enough antipyretic analgesics, announced on Nov. 25. The average monthly supply will increase from 45 million tablets to 67.6 million tablets, and 72 million tablets during the winter intensive management period.