On August 26, the storm moved across the Amami Islands of Japan, where Rusa left 20,000 people without power and caused two fatalities.

After weakening slightly, Rusa made landfall on Goheung, South Korea with winds of 140 km/h (85 mph 10 minute sustained).

A 24-hour total of 880 mm (35 in) in the city broke the record for the highest daily precipitation in the country; however, the heaviest rainfall was localized.

In South Korea, Rusa killed at least 233 people, making it the deadliest typhoon there in over 43 years, and caused $4.2 billion in damage.

[nb 2] The typhoon also dropped heavy rainfall in neighboring North Korea, leaving 26,000 people homeless and killing three.

The monsoon trough spawned a tropical depression on August 22 north of Bikini Atoll and southwest of Wake Island.

[4] At 1800 UTC on August 25, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)[nb 3] upgraded Rusa to a typhoon while the system was northeast of the Northern Marianas Islands.

[2] Around the same time, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)[nb 4] estimated peak winds of 215 km/h (135 mph 1 minute sustained).

[2] Despite forecasts that it would weaken, Rusa maintained its intensity while passing south of Japan, due to minimal wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures of up to 29 °C (84 °F).

[2] Warm, moist air blew across the peninsula ahead of the storm, which prevented significant weakening, and an approaching cold front contributed to atmospheric instability.

[4] At around 0800 UTC on August 31, Rusa made landfall on Goheung, South Korea, with winds of 140 km/h (85 mph 10 minute sustained).

[3] The depression turned to the northeast, and after moving through the Sea of Japan, Rusa became extratropical over Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East late on September 1.

All lower and middle schools on the island were closed, and residents were stranded after officials halted ferry and airline service.

[16] Flooding and the landslides disrupted the country's infrastructure;[6] the storm destroyed 274 bridges and damaged roads and rails at 164 locations.

[17] Rusa killed 300,000 livestock and flooded 85,000 hectares (210,000 acres) of crop fields,[17][18] representing 6% of the country's agricultural lands, mostly affecting fruit and vegetables.

[6] The storm caused the Vana H Cup KBC Augusta golf tournament to end early,[19] and a stadium to be used for the 2002 Asian Games was damaged.

[23] The rains from Rusa damaged and flooded thousands of houses and many public buildings,[24] and destroyed 86,000 tonnes of crop fields;[25] the latter was most significant due to the country's ongoing famine conditions.

[23] Rusa disrupted transportation by destroying 25 km (16 mi) of roads and 24 bridges; however, most of the damage was isolated to a small region.

[33] In the year after the storm, the South Korean government worked to reconstruct damaged roads and provided monthly assistance payments to families who lost their homes.

The country's Habitat for Humanity built 69 houses for storm victims in 2003, although that was only for a small portion of the overall number of people affected.

[35] About a year after Rusa hit, Typhoon Maemi also struck South Korea with stronger winds, causing $3.74 billion in damage and 117 deaths.