By Byun Duk-kun
Staff Reporter

Following a series of attacks against U.S-led coalition forces and allies last week, the South Korean government issued a warning against possible terror attacks on state organizations.

The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs ordered all government and public offices to come up with contingency plans to deal with any possible terrorist attacks and natural disasters, and prepared a set of guidelines on ways to prevent and cope with such attacks.

According to the Ministry’s own contingency plan, all government authorities are to organize disaster-control centers in case of an emergency. They should also maintain an around-the-clock network of communication to effectively deal with any possible situation.

The Ministry also advised its government offices to tighten security checks and searches for explosives, biochemical weapons or any other type of weapons in their office buildings.

They also asked public offices to conduct regular checks on places where terrorists may hide explosives such as trashcans, toilets, fire extinguishers and oil-storage facilities.

At least 27 people, including one British diplomat, were killed and another 450 were injured in a series of truck bombings in Istanbul, Turkey, last Thursday.

Another terrorist attack followed in Iraq the next day. At least five rocket-propelled grenades hit the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad where the South Korean Embassy and the 10 South Korean lawmakers on a fact-finding mission to the Mid East country were being sheltered.

``The recent increase in terrorist threats have led us to advise our government offices and public facilities to strengthen their anti-terrorism efforts,’’ a government official was quoted as saying.

However, the country may be facing a much more clear and present danger, according to some experts.

The international terrorist organization al-Qaida had warned countries or forces lending help to the U.S.-led coalition forces. They specifically warned of reprisals against Japan in its own capital city Tokyo if the country sends its forces to the post-war Iraq.

Although not specifically mentioned in the terrorist group’s statement, South Korea may be exposed to a higher level of threat than Japan because the country is trying to send ``self-sustainable’’ combat troops while Japan is only considering to send non-combat troops to help reconstruction efforts in Iraq, the experts said.

Further reflecting how seriously it is taking the threat, the South Korean government increased its police forces around foreign embassies of those countries lending help to the U.S.-led coalition forces.

The National Police Agency (NPA) tightened its surveillance around the embassies and related-facilities of Britain and Turkey in Seoul in case of any terrorist attacks.


benjamine@koreatimes.co.kr