South Korea has canceled more than 300 flights and storm warnings have been issued in both South and North Korea.

As tropical hurricane Maysak moves toward the Korean Peninsula, reports of a missing ship arrive from Japan.

Sent emergency signal

The country's Coast Guard announces that it is looking for a cargo ship with 43 people on board after registering an emergency signal from the East China Sea.

The signal came early on Wednesday morning, from a ship about 180 km west of the island of Amami-Oshima, after a night of strong winds and rain in the area when Maysak passed.

The Coast Guard believes that the distress call comes from Gulf Livestock 1, which was on its way to Tangshan in China from Napier in New Zealand.

Four Coast Guard vessels and several aircraft are participating in the search.

39 Filipinos, two New Zealanders, one Australian and one Singaporean are said to be among those on board.

Risk of flooding

The storm is expected to pull in over the Korean Peninsula during Wednesday afternoon Swedish time and above all to cause major material damage and floods on the Korean Peninsula. 

 - It will be really windy, probably a lot of rain and certainly high waves and a so-called storm surge closest to the coast.

In that area, there could be some floods, says Nitzan Cohen, meteorologist at SVT.

Fear of death

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun says the storm is expected to have the same strength as Typhoon Maemi, which in 2003 killed 131 people and caused damage equivalent to 26 billion kronor.

- Statistically, South Korea is hit by about a named tropical storm annually, but Maysak is thus the fourth only this year and already before it is hit by heavy monsoon rains.

Of the four, this is the strongest with winds of over 50 to 60 meters per second.  

In addition, a fifth hurricane may be imminent later in the week.

- It will take a similar path as Maysak and then southwestern Japan will also be affected before the storm pulls in over the Korean Peninsula.

It is common for hurricanes to form in this area, but it is unusual for there to be so many.