Fishermen missing as Typhoon Bolaven hits South Korea

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At least 31 Chinese fishermen are missing after their boats sank when a typhoon hit South Korea, reports say.

The two Chinese fishing boats were just off Jeju island in the Korea Strait when they went down, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

Typhoon Bolaven has already lashed the Japanese island of Okinawa, causing power cuts and paralysing transport. At least four people were injured.

Power cuts have been reported in southern and western South Korea.

Meteorologists in South Korea were expecting the typhoon to move northward towards Seoul later on Tuesday, Yonhap news agency said.

Schools on Jeju have been closed and the US and South Korean forces halted a major joint exercise that had started last week.

On Sunday the typhoon hit the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Kagoshima, leaving some 75,000 households without power.

Typhoon Bolaven comes just after Typhoon Temblin, which has caused widespread damage in Taiwan.

The latest typhoon is the 15th destructive storm of the season in East Asia.