Damage to the country's cultural properties is increasing as massive wildfires continue to engulf the southeastern region

The Korea Heritage Service reported that as of 5 p.m. Thursday, 23 cultural assets had been damaged by the fires, an increase of eight since the previous day.

Among those designated by the state were two treasures, three scenic sites, three natural monuments, and three national folklore cultural heritage sites 

Of the city or province-designated heritage, there were five cultural heritage materials, four folklore cultural heritage items, two tangible cultural heritage items, and one monument 

The state agency has maintained its heritage disaster crisis alert at the ‘serious’ level since it was issued on Tuesday.