Flights Cancelled, Evacuations Ordered in Japan and South Korea as Storm Khanun Moves Northward

In South Korea, where Khanun was predicted to make landfall on Thursday, roughly 80 flights at ten airports were canceled, as did scores of ferry services.

As tropical storm Khanun barreled off Japan's southern coast and into South Korea, airlines canceled hundreds of flights and authorities issued warnings.

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The storm, which has been downgraded from a typhoon, has already caused South Korea to begin evacuating tens of thousands of people who were camping at the World Scout Jamboree, which had previously been battered by a heatwave.

Heavy rain hammered Japan's southern island of Kyushu on Wednesday, knocking out electricity to approximately 16,000 people.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of torrential rain and a "surging" potential of "life-threatening mudslides and flooding" in the Kagoshima portion of the island.

The system has been classified as a tropical storm by the US military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, with winds of up to 130 kph (81 mph).

According to an AFP spokesperson, Japan Airlines canceled 252 flights on Wednesday, affecting over 25,000 passengers.

According to a spokesman for All Nippon Airways, the airline canceled 96 flights, affecting nearly 10,000 customers.
The weather system that killed at least two people in the Okinawa region last week has already prompted organizers to scale back and shift Wednesday's events commemorating the 78th anniversary of Nagasaki's atomic blast inside.

The "shinkansen" bullet train service in Japan was also suspended in part of its southern route, and many additional local commuter and express trains were canceled, according to Kyushu Railway.
In South Korea, where Khanun was predicted to make landfall on Thursday, roughly 80 flights at ten airports were canceled, as did scores of ferry services.

The crisis alert level in Seoul has been upgraded to the highest level, with the typhoon likely to have "a direct impact on the entire country" from Wednesday to Friday, according to the interior ministry.

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