By Park Si-soo

Typhoon Malou is forecast to hit the southern part of the Korean Peninsula with torrential rain today.

The ninth typhoon of this year, which comes just four days after Typhoon Kompasu battered the central part of the peninsula, grounded thousands of fishing boats and ferries on Jeju Island Monday.

Malou, a Mandarin word meaning “agate” in English, is expected to make landfall in Mokpo, a port city nearly 400 kilometers southwest of Seoul, Tuesday afternoon, according to the state weather agency.

The authorities issued a heavy rain warning.

The seasonal storm carrying a maximum wind of 24 meters per second is expected to pass over the southern part of the country Tuesday afternoon before heading out into the East Sea by Wednesday morning, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.

“Some regions will see a downpour of 250 millimeters a day,” said Kim Seung-bae, a KMA spokesman. “We are worried about flooding of low-level lands and other property damage caused by the strong winds.”

The typhoon was strong enough for the Korean and U.S. militaries to delay their joint naval exercise from Sept. 5 to 9, which was aimed at showcasing their combined military strength to North Korea.

Typhoon Kompasu hammered the central part of the peninsula, including Seoul, last Thursday, killing five people and causing power outages at tens of thousands of homes and forcing airlines to cancel or divert domestic and international flights.

Malou, categorized as a “small” typhoon, has a 220-km radius of strong wind influence, the KMA said. High winds have been detected up to 200 kilometers from its eye, it added.

The National Disaster Prevention and Countermeasure Office in Jeju has barred people from climbing mountains and mobilized more than 1,000 public officials in a preemptive step to minimize damage.