South Korea to hold meeting of diplomatic missions next week
South Korea will open an annual meeting of its top envoys abroad next week with a focus on strengthening its diplomacy amid geopolitical challenges, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
At least six people were killed and several others missing after Typhoon Mitag lashed South Korea with heavy rain and strong winds, according to authorities on Thursday.
The storm hit southern parts of the country on prompting flood warnings and triggering landslides in affected areas.
A woman in her 70s died after she was swept away by strong winds in the southeastern city of Pohang while another woman was killed after heavy rain caused her house to collapse as she slept, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said.
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A total of six people were killed across the country but the toll was expected to rise with several people missing.
The mid-strength typhoon, the seventh to affect the Korean Peninsula this year, brought heavy rain and high winds to the southern regions even before making landfall. Several regions experienced record-high levels of precipitation.
In Ulijin county, the volume of rain reached 104.5 millimetres per hour, the highest ever recorded since the Korean Meteorological Agency began compiling this type of data in 1971. The city of Donghae saw 67.4 mm of rain per hour, marking the highest figure since 1992.
More than 44,000 homes suffered power outages due to the typhoon. Power to some 82 per cent of them was restored, reports say.
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon called for the full employment of personnel and equipment available to rescue those buried in a landslide incident in Busan and safety measures to be taken in the aftermath of the typhoon, according to his office.
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