Typhoon Khanun lashes southern Japan, nears South Korea

TOKYO/SEOUL - Flights were cancelled and trains halted on Wednesday as heavy rain from Typhoon Khanun pounded the southern regions of Japan and South Korea, just as another storm approached from the east to threaten Tokyo ahead of Japan’s peak summer holiday season.

Khanun could

make landfall at the south-eastern South Korean port city of Tongyeong

on Thursday, before tracking up the Korean peninsula, the authorities said.

The storm is currently in the sea south of Kyushu – Japan’s south-western main island some 860km from Tokyo – after

wreaking havoc in the south-western Okinawa region.

It is maintaining its strength and moving at an unusually slow 10kmh, meaning the wind and rain will linger for longer.

Areas of Kyushu have already been inundated with a whole month’s worth of rainfall in the past week, said the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The agency issued heavy rain and high wind warnings to many parts of southern and western Japan, prompting automakers including Toyota to suspend some production.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida cancelled his attendance at a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, in Kyushu.

Railway operator West Japan Railway Company suspended some bullet train services in Kyushu, while a professional baseball game scheduled there was cancelled.

Japan Airlines cancelled more than 252 flights on Wednesday, and All Nippon Airways halted about 105 services, impacting a total of about 36,700 customers.

By mid-afternoon on Wednesday, more than 260 flights had been cancelled at major airports in South Korea. Public transport is likely to be suspended if the storm causes severe rain and wind, said the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

President Yoon Suk-yeol said at an emergency meeting on Tuesday that the government should make all-out efforts to minimise potential casualties. He is on 24-hour emergency duty from Wednesday, Yonhap News reported, citing an unidentified official from the presidential office.

On Tuesday, officials also evacuated more than 30,000 scouts from their campsite in the south-west ahead of the typhoon, the latest snag to hit the World Scout Jamboree.

Mr Yoon has ordered the authorities to prevent any further damage, especially in regions hit by July’s torrential rain.

South Korea is bracing itself for Khanun less than a year after Super Typhoon Hinnamnor, which killed more than 10 people and disrupted both power supplies and major industries.

The nation has not previously experienced a tropical cyclone that has pierced right through the nation’s inland and crossed into North Korea, according to records that date back to 1951, said the Korea Meteorological Administration on Wednesday.

The typhoon is forecast to be about 40km east-south-east of Seoul by late Thursday, before travelling north towards Pyongyang by early Friday.

Mr Park Jung-min, a forecaster at the administration, told reporters: “Extremely powerful wind and torrential rain will be expected in all parts of the country. We want to emphasise the need for thorough preparation and precaution ahead of the typhoon.”

Another storm, Lan, has formed in the Pacific Ocean south of Japan and was predicted to strengthen as it heads north, possibly affecting Tokyo early next week, JMA said.

The two storms arrive at the start of Obon, Japan’s peak summer holiday season when many people leave big cities for their ancestral home towns. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG