The Seoul city government will actively consider building new crematoriums in addition to adding furnaces to existing ones in an effort to meet soaring cremation demand from rising COVID-19 deaths, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Sunday.

Oh made the remark to reporters during a visit to Seoul Memorial Park, a crematorium on the southern outskirts of Seoul, saying the demand for cremation is difficult to meet even though the facilities have been in operation at full capacity.

"Workers in the field are in a very difficult situation as their workload has nearly doubled. I believe the situation has reached a critical point," Oh said. "We had secured room for adding

11-15 furnaces in case of a rise in cremation demand. As an urgent situation has happened, we're considering adding furnaces."

Oh said the city government will "actively consider" building additional crematoriums based on a forecast that a pandemic like COVID-19 can come on a regular basis.

"We will push for it in earnest in six months or a year even if budget is not secured," he said. (Yonhap)