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One missing, thousands homeless as typhoon sweeps across South Korea
Updated at 23:30 on August 18, 2004, EST.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Typhoon Megi swept across the southwestern
tip of South Korea, leaving thousands of people homeless and at least
one person missing, emergency officials said Thursday.

The typhoon first hit Wednesday, bringing heavy rains to the
southwestern South Korea and leaving more than 2,400 people homeless,
said Park Min-ju, an official at the country's disaster agency. More
than 1,200 homes were flooded or destroyed. Park said a 74-year-old
man remained missing after he was apparently swept away while working
on a farm in Naju, about 280 kilometres south of the capital Seoul.

Officials said they were investigating reports another man was missing
in the typhoon.

More damage was predicted as the typhoon headed northeast, Park said
and it was expected to complete its pass over the Korean Peninsula by
later Thursday.

The heavy weather shut down seven airports and caused the cancellation
of 41 domestic flights.

Earlier, heavy rain fuelled by the typhoon lashed southern Japan,
leaving at least eight people dead and causing landslides and
blackouts, officials said. Two people were missing.

Megi brushed the main southern islands Kyushu and Shikoku, the
Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

In Kagawa state in Shikoku, a 74-year-old farmer was found dead after
he fell into a swollen canal Tuesday. Three more elderly people were
killed by flooding rivers, police said.

In nearby Ehime, three men and a woman were killed, one by drowning
and the others in mudslides, local police said.

More than 4,700 people were ordered to evacuate their homes in Kagawa,
and nearly 300 in Ehime. Japanese national broadcaster NHK reported
more than 600 homes had been flooded in Shikoku.