Signs Increase of Fear of Terror Attack

Reports that South Korea is on Al Qaeda’s terror attack list, have many Korean citizens expressing feelings of unease and companies anxious to come up with emergency plans.

Terror Alert Spreads-

A foreign communication company located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, for example, recently stepped up security measures, requiring all visitors to show identification before entering the office entrance, while the backdoor of the building, where employees had freely come and gone for recess, is now flanked by security guards and equipped with an electronic security lock.

Each employee has been issued an ID card, which contains a chip that displays the person’s personal identification number (PIN) transmitted from a satellite each second or minute. When employees intend to access the computer network, they must for authorization first enter their PIN to report their whereabouts.

An international loan advance company in Chung-gu, Seoul, meanwhile, convened a terror-attack drill for all employees earlier this month. Each of 30 employees went through tasks such as backing up key information in portable memory drives, gathering pre-classified documents, and evacuating the building. The evacuation took 15 minutes and all employees were convened at a hotel nearby. The manual sent from the company’s headquarters in the U.S. specified the estimated time period that each step would take.

Some major Korean companies are also focusing on issues of insurance in preparedness for potential attacks. “Since the report on Al Qaeda’s terror threat, we have received about ten phone calls each day, inquiring about terror-related insurance, “ said an employee of ‘L’, one of Korea’s largest insurance companies.

Koreans and Foreigners Worried-

“Since the report saying South Korea is not a safe place against terror attacks, more reports related to terror threats have been increasing,” a police officer said. “We have thoroughly coped with every situation,” he added.

Meanwhile, “H,” a vendor of fire extinguishers and gas masks, reports that “Internet shoppers searching for gas masks rose 40 percent last week. Usually we had sold one mask a week. But, last week, more than ten gas masks were sold to ordinary citizens.”

As public fears escalate, the National Intelligence Service has published a book, How to recognize a terrorist for distribution at Incheon International Airport and other major terminals. The book warns the need to raise special attention to anyone with an unusually fat waist out of proportion to his or her legs, or someone wearing a thick and long jacket in hot weather, because they are highly likely to be carrying a bomb. Muslims in Korea are not excluded from heightened tension across the nation. They are often questioned by the police and have to endure curses from some Koreans.

“Islam has nothing to do with those terror groups that no one knows where they came from,” Sharik Shaed, a Palestinian trade businessman, appealed.

Jae-Young Kim Se-Jin Jung jaykim@donga.com mint4a@donga.com