Storm warnings hoisted in south

Typhoon Shanshan neared the Korean Peninsula yesterday; it was within 250 kilometers (150 miles) of Jeju Island at 3 p.m. yesterday.
One fisherman died and tens of thousands of ships and aircraft were idled because of strong winds and heavy rain brought by the typhoon.
A 57-year-old fisherman fell into the water and was drowned yesterday morning in Jeju port. Eleven passenger ships on six routes serving the island remained in port.
The storm has maximum winds of 148 kilometers (91 miles) per hour and was moving northeast at 39 kilometers per hour.
Typhoon warnings were posted on Jeju and on Korea’s south and east coasts yesterday. From Friday through yesterday, Jeju had 157 millimeters (6 inches) of rain.
Ports in Busan were closed; 30 passenger ships and 50 cargo vessels headed for that city were diverted to Jinhae or Geoje islands in South Gyeongsang province.
In Ulsan, 1,400 fishing ships were idled in port, and in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang province, 16,000 fishing ships waited for the storm to pass and for the authorities to lift a ban on departures.
The Korea Coast Guard said that as of 4 p.m. yesterday, of 52,000 ships were tied up at ports nationwide and 120 passenger ships plying 77 routes were also tied up in port. Mount Jiri, a resort, was also closed beginning at 11 a.m. yesterday.
The Korean Meteorological Administration forecast that the typhoon would have passed through the Korean Straits by midnight yesterday and will move toward the Dokdo islets this afternoon, bringing more strong winds and rain to the south and east coasts.
The weather agency said that the rain would range from 50 and 100 millimeters in most parts of the Gyeongsang provinces, the eastern part of Gangwon province, Ulleung Island and the Dokdo islets today.

by Song Yee-ho, Kang Chan-su