TYPHOON MITAG SOON TO HIT KOREA

[Anchor Lead]

Typhoon Mitag is moving toward the Korean Peninsula. It is expected to bring gusty winds and heavy rain, causing concern among rice farmers ahead of the harvest season. Korean farmers are trying their best to minimize damage caused by a series of typhoons making landfall in Korea.

[Pkg]

Farmers are busy harvesting their rice in the rain. They decided to harvest their crop about ten days earlier after hearing of an approaching typhoon. The series of typhoons that hit Korea recently came as bad news to local farmers, who look forward to having a good harvest this year.

[Soundbite] LIM YEON-SHIK(RICE FARMER) : "I have no other choice but to harvest my rice now, because they said a typhoon is approaching. Once the rice plants touch the ground, they will sprout and their germination will be undermined."

Farmers, whose crops sustained serious damage during the last typhoon, are devastated. Their rice plants are all submerged in water or have been destroyed by the wind, and there is no way to fix the problem. The farmers check if their collapsed crops can still be harvested, and dig water canals to prepare for the approaching typhoon.

[Soundbite] LEE JUNG-WON(RICE FARMER) : "If rice plants collapse because of rain, they will rot at the bottom and sprout before they are even harvested. This will affect their commercial value and lifespan. We have been having typhoons once in every ten days."

Mitag will be the seventh typhoon to hit the Korean peninsula this year alone. The combined area of inundated rice fields nationwide spans more than 26,000 hectares.

[Soundbite] KO CHANG-HO(RURAL DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION) : "Once it stops raining, rice plants should be bent to the opposite side to maximize ventilation. Rice plants that are ready to harvest should be harvested shortly after the typhoon passes."

Mitag is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain as it passes through the southwestern part of Korea to the dismay of local farmers who are just days away from harvesting their long-awaited crops.