Rescuers saved 12 fishermen and were still searching for 10 missing from the Chinese ships, which hit rocks off South Korea's southern Jeju island.
At least three other people died as Typhoon Bolaven knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of South Koreans, cancelled flights and temporarily halted joint war games by US and South Korean military forces.
State media in North Korea, which is still struggling to rebuild from recent floods and a devastating drought, reported on Tuesday the country was being lashed by heavy rain and strong winds.
Off Jeju island, dangerous waves kept rescue vessels from approaching the Chinese fishing ships. The coastguard used a special gun to shoot rope to one ship so officers could pull themselves over and bring the fishermen back to shore, coastguard spokesman Ko Chang-keon said.
Eighteen fishermen survived. Twelve were rescued by the coastguard 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 down shop signs. A large container box crushed the caretaker of an apartment building to death, a woman fell to her death from a rooftop and a third person died after bricks hit a house, according to disaster and fire officials.
Strong gusts left Seoul streets covered with leaves, rubbish and branches. More than 15,000 schools cancelled classes, and businesses and homes boarded up windows.
More than 330,000 South Korean households lost power, the government said, and more than 70 people were left homeless because of floods or storm damage. Nearly 200 flights were cancelled.
In North Korea, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency reported gale-force winds and heavy rain in many parts of the country. 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, healthcare and clean water after heavy flooding in July, according to a recent United Nations 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 UN report said, and there is concern about malnutrition. 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 turned out not to be as powerful as expected.
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.
Further 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.
Tuesday 28 August 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/28/fishermen-killed-typhoon-south-korea
