South Korea braces itself for disruption as Typhoon Khanun changes course

SEOUL – South Korea’s weather agency urged the nation to take precautions as Typhoon Khanun changed its path to head towards waters near the country’s second-biggest city, Busan.

The storm is forecast to pass close to Busan on Thursday, and make landfall near the south-eastern coast of Gyeongsang, said the Korea Meteorological Administration in a briefing on Sunday.

As Khanun moves north through Gangwon province, it is expected to cause rain and wind across most parts of the country, the agency said. 

Khanun, named after a tropical fruit, has caused damage and disruption as it swept across the region, causing power outages on the Japanese island of Okinawa, and closing financial markets and schools in Taiwan.

While the typhoon is expected to hit South Korea, there is still a high possibility of the storm changing its course again, the weather bureau said. 

The authorities in China have also been preparing for a potential impact, activating an emergency response. Beijing is dealing with the aftermath of the heaviest rain on record to hit the Chinese capital following Typhoon Doksuri in July.

South Korea is dealing with a range of extreme weather in recent months, from flooding to scorching heat.

In July, a severe downpour left people dead and destroyed homes and roads. Last week, the country saw temperatures rising above 38 deg C, prompting the government to raise its heatwave warning to the highest level for the first time in four years.  

Khanun is currently around 190km north-east of Okinawa, with its strongest winds reaching up to 126kmh as at 9am Seoul time, according to the weather administration. BLOOMBERG