每日英語跟讀 Ep.K432: About SKorea - Cats caused more than 100 house fires in the past 3 years, South Korea officials say

Pet owners in South Korea have been warned to stay on their guard after more than 100 fires were started by cats over the past three years, according to fire officials in the capital Seoul.

南韓首都首爾的消防官員表示，貓在過去3年引發超過100起火災，警告寵物飼主保持警覺。

A statement Thursday from the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Department said cats caused a total of 107 house fires between January 2019 and November 2021.

首爾大都會消防與災難部門週四發表的一份聲明說，從2019年1月到2021年11月，貓總共引發107起住宅火災。

The cats are believed to have started the fires by switching on electric stoves, the department said. Cats can turn electric stoves on by jumping on touch-sensitive buttons – and once overheated, the appliances can catch fire.

該部門說，據信是貓打開電爐開關而引發火災。貓能夠藉由跳上觸動感應式按鈕而打開電爐──而電爐一旦過熱，就會起火。

Four people were injured in the fires, just over half of which started while pet owners were out, the statement added.

該聲明補充說，這些火災中有4人受傷，其中過半數火災發生於飼主不在家之際。

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’Silver tsunami’ threatens to wipe out S. Korean rural communities 「銀色海嘯」恐令南韓偏鄉社區滅村

By 2030, a quarter of all South Koreans will be over 65 years old, and the overall population is expected to peak at around 52 million the same year before entering a period of steady decline.

2030年前，南韓總人口的4分之1，年齡將逾65歲，在進入穩定減少期前，總人口預計同年達高峰，約5200萬人。

Nestled among mountains and known for its mushrooms and apples, Gunwi county boasted a population of more than 70,000 in the 1980s. That number now stands at 24,000 with nearly 40 percent over 65 years old － one of the highest ratios in South Korea.

（慶尚北道）軍威郡坐落在群山間，以蘑菇和蘋果聞名，1980年代曾擁有7萬多名人口。目前人口為2萬4000，近4成人口逾65歲，係全南韓比例最高的地方之一。

Childbirth has become so rare that there isn’t a single obstetrician or maternity ward in the entire county, and more than 20 elementary, middle and high schools have closed since the 1990s. South Korea has a fertility rate of 1.19 births per woman － the lowest among OECD member nations.

因出生率太低，導致整個軍威郡沒有任何婦產科醫師或產房，且自1990年代以來，20幾間小學、中學及高中已廢校。南韓每名婦女的生育率為1.19個孩子，在經濟合作暨發展組織（OECD）會員國中墊底。

Gunwi officials have done what they can to rejuvenate the county, offering free school lunches and cash incentives for couples having a third child. The central government has launched similar schemes across the country, pumping more than 80 trillion won since 2006 into programmes aimed at encouraging people to marry young and have larger families, according to health ministry data.

為讓軍威郡年輕化，當地官員已盡其所能，提供免費的學校營養午餐和發放現金獎勵予生第三胎的夫妻。根據南韓保健福祉部數據，中央政府已在全國實施類似方案，自2006年以來對該計畫挹注逾80兆韓元，旨在鼓勵民眾早點結婚，並組織較大的家庭。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1535135 ; https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/paper/1014153