A powerful typhoon pounded South Korea with strong winds and heavy rain Tuesday as it churned up rough seas that smashed two fishing ships into rocks, killing at least five fishermen and forcing the coast guard to perform a daring rescue for the survivors.
Rescuers
saved 12 fishermen and were still searching for 10 missing from the
Chinese ships that hit rocks off South Korea's southern Jeju island.
Separately,
at least three other people died as Typhoon Bolaven knocked out power
to hundreds of thousands of South Koreans, canceled flights and
temporarily halted joint war games by U.S. and South Korean military forces.
North Korea,
which is still struggling to rebuild from massive floods and a
devastating drought before that, was next in the typhoon's path. State
media reported the country was being lashed by heavy rain and strong
wind Tuesday.
Off Jeju island,
dangerous waves kept rescue vessels from approaching the Chinese
fishing ships. The coast guard used a special gun to shoot rope to one
ship so officers could pull themselves over and bring the fishermen back
to shore, coast guard spokesman Ko Chang-keon said.
Eighteen fishermen survived. Twelve were rescued by the coast guard and the others swam or were washed ashore.
South Korea issued a storm warning for the capital, Seoul, as Bolaven
battered the country's south and west, knocking over street lights and
church spires and ripping signs from stores. A large container box
crushed an apartment janitor to death, a woman fell to her death from a
rooftop where she kept dried red peppers and a third person died after
bricks hit a house, according to disaster and fire officials.
Strong
wind gusts left Seoul streets covered with leaves, garbage and
branches. More than 15,000 schools cancelled classes, and businesses and
homes taped windows or pasted the glass with wet newspapers to keep
them from shattering.
More than 330,000 South Korean households
lost power, the government said, and more than 70 were left homeless
because of floods or storm damage. Nearly 200 flights were canceled.
In North Korea, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency
reported gale force winds and heavy rain in many parts of the country.
Big rainstorms often mean catastrophe in the North because of poor
drainage, deforestation and decrepit infrastructure.
North Korea
is still trying to help people with food, shelter, health care and clean
water after heavy flooding in July, according to a recent United
Nations situation report. More than 170 died nationwide, and tens of
thousands of homes were destroyed in the floods, according to official
North Korean accounts.
Many flood victims still live in tents with
limited access to water and other basic facilities, the U.N. report
said, and there is worry about increased malnutrition in coming weeks.
Seoul's Unification Ministry approved a trip Wednesday by two South
Korean aid groups to visit the North Korean city of Kaesong for talks on
flood aid.
Weather officials had warned that Bolaven would be the
strongest typhoon to hit the region in several years, but its gusts
weren't as powerful as predicted.
The typhoon hit the southern
Japanese island of Okinawa on Monday, injuring four people but doing
less damage than feared before moving off to sea. More than 75,000
households lost power.
Farther south, another typhoon, Tembin, doubled back and hit Taiwan
three days after drenching the same region before blowing out to sea.
Fierce winds and rain toppled coconut trees in the beach resort town of
Hengchun.
In Manila, the Philippine weather agency reissued
typhoon warnings to residents and fishermen for Tembin, which blew out
of the archipelago over the weekend. Fishing boats in the north were
urged not to venture out to sea while larger ships were warned of
possible big waves and heavy rains.
___
Associated
Press writers Hye Soo Nah, Foster Klug, Sam Kim and Jean H. Lee in
Seoul, and Annie Huang in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report
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