Typhoon Lingling likely to hit western South Korea on Sat.
Typhoon Lingling is forecast to make landfall on the western coast of the Korean Peninsula this weekend, South Korea's weather agency said Wednesday.
The typhoon is slowly moving northward at a speed of 3 kph, passing the seas 440 kilometers southeast of Taipei earlier today, said the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).
Its central pressure was 980 hectopascals, and the maximum wind speed near its center was 29 meters per second with a wind radius of 270 km.
The weather agency forecast the typhoon to pick up speed and reach seas 80 km west of Mokpo, 410 km south of Seoul, early Saturday morning.
It is then expected to hit the wider metropolitan area, including Seoul and Incheon, and move upward to North Korea.
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon hosted a meeting earlier in the day, ordering relevant government ministries and provincial governments to prepare for the typhoon.
He also urged people in the area to be careful of the typhoon in a tweet, comparing Lingling to Typhoon Bolaven, which killed 10 people and caused property damage of 636.5 billion won ($526 million) in the country in 2012.
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