This illustration file photo shows a model wearing a high-tech thermal bra. Government buildings in South Korea have to keep the office temperature below 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) and state employees are encouraged to wear thermal underwear to battle the cold.

South Korea's civil servants have been ordered to do their public duty by switching off the heating and donninglong johnsas the severe cold puts a strain on power resources, according to officials.

In an emergency energy savings plan, all ministries and state-run companies have been told to turn off the heating from 11:00 am to noon and 5:00-6:00 pm, the Knowledge Economy Ministry said.

Government buildings have to keep the office temperature below 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) and state employees are encouraged to wear thermal underwearto battle the cold, it said.

"Offices will be quite cold under the required temperature, so state employees, whether encouraged or not, will end up wearing thermal underwear anyway," a ministry official, Roh Keon-Ki, told AFP.

Officials will patrol state buildings to check the temperature, he said.

"We're trying to set an example because the country may face a severe electricity shortage if the current pace (of heating consumption) continues."

Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Kyung-Hwan warned last week of possible blackoutsafter electricity demand soared to record highs this winter.

Sunday's temperature in Seoul fell to a 10-year record low of minus 17.8 degrees Celsius. Large parts of the Han river that bisectsthe capital are frozen over.

The temperature in the southeastern port of Busan sank to minus 12.8 degrees Sunday, the lowest level in 96 years, causing the death of a homeless man.

Water supplies in the southeastern city of Gimhae were cut off Sunday after pipes burst.

據一些韓國官員說，韓國政府要求公務員履行公職，關掉暖氣，穿上秋衣秋褲，以應對嚴寒天氣造成的電力資源緊張的局面。

知識經濟部稱，政府出臺了一項緊急節能計劃，要求各部委和國企在上午11時至12時以及下午5時至6時停止暖氣供應。

根據該計劃，所有的政府辦公樓都須將室內溫度調到18攝氏度（華氏64度）以下，同時政府提倡公務員穿保暖內衣御寒。

一位名叫盧健基的政府官員告訴法新社記者說：“調到規定的溫度后，辦公室里肯定很冷。因此不管政府提不提倡，公務員們都會穿保暖內衣來上班。”

他還說官員們會在辦公樓里巡視，檢查溫度。

“我們盡量以身作則，如果人們還按照現在的速度來消耗熱量，那么韓國可能會面臨嚴重的電荒。”

今冬韓國的電力需求量達到了歷史最高值，知識經濟部部長崔炅煥上周警告說這可能會導致停電。

上周日（16日）首爾的最低氣溫降到了零下17.8攝氏度，創下了10年以來的最低溫度。將首爾從中隔斷的漢江出現大面積結冰。

韓國東南部港口城市釜山周日的最低氣溫降到了零下12.8攝氏度，是96年來的最低溫。一名流浪漢被活活凍死。

韓國東南部的金海市周日發生水管凍裂，供水被切斷。

Vocabulary:

don: to put clothes, etc. on（披上；穿上；戴上）

long johns: warm underpants with long legs down to the ankles（至踝部的）長內褲，襯褲

thermal underwear: 保暖內衣

blackout: a period of darkness caused by an electrical power failure（斷電；停電）

bisect: to divide something into two equal parts（對半分；二等分）