SEOUL - Typhoon Bolaven swept across South Korea Tuesday, killing at least eight local people, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.

A man holds his umbrella against strong winds and rain generated by Typhoon Bolaven in Seoul August 28, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

The most powerful typhoon to hit the Korean peninsula in a decade, Bolaven sank two Chinese fishing boats in waters off the country's southernmost island of Jeju early Tuesday morning, leaving five Chinese fishermen dead and ten others unaccounted for.

The storm, with gust of up to 40 meters per second, uprooted trees, broke signposts and damaged buildings, leading to flight and ferry cancellations and a ban on access to beaches and mountains.

A total of 2,815 hectares of farmlands were inundated, while fish farms on the east coast of the Korean peninsula were destroyed.

Power was briefly cut to local industrial complexes, and some 200,000 households were also affected by blackouts.