Snowstorms paralyse South Korea's local airports

TERRA.WIRE

Snowstorms paralyse South Korea's local airports
SEOUL (AFP) Jan 16, 2005
Snowstorms on Sunday shut down a third of South Korea's local airports with dozens of domestic flights cancelled, officials at the Korea Airport Corp said.

Five of the 15 local airports were shut for hours by heavy snow, strong winds and poor visibility with 86 flights cancelled, they said.

Affected were the airports of Gimhae, Ulsan, Pohang, Yeosu and Mokpo -- mostly in the eastern and southern provinces where up to 100 centimetersinches) of snow fell.

"All takeoffs and landings have been prohibited for hours at those five affected airports," said Korea Airport Corp spokesman Ham Young-Ju.

But operations at Incheon Airport, the main gateway for South Korea, and other airports remained normal, he said.

A rescue was under way after a South Korean freighter carrying seven crew ran aground in strong winds near the eastern port of Samcheok early Sunday, police said.