Korea tightens security for G20 summit
Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik on Wednesday presided over a special meeting of security-related ministers. He also requested in the Cabinet meeting last week that all government departments and agencies cooperate in the successful management of the G20 summit, the biggest ever diplomatic event hosted by the country.
“Security and escort issues should at all times be the No. 1 priority,” the prime minister said.
“I also urge the citizens to show the foreign visitors the best of our country during their stay.”
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency set to the final stages of checking its security and escort plans for the G20 summit, said officials Monday.
Police stations in Gangnam-gu, where the summit is to take place, and in other hotel-clustered districts such as Yongsan and Jongno, have been on high alert.
“During the two-day summit, all police officials, except a minimum group to keep watch in the station, will be deployed throughout the city, especially in Samsung-dong,” said an official of the SMPA.
Some 50,000 police officials have been involved in the G20 security measures, 10,000 of them coming from non-Seoul regions.
Also, from the beginning of next month until the end of the summit, all police officials in Seoul are to be restricted from leave unless for exceptional reasons, said SMPA officials.
“As an absolute majority of the mobile forces are to be involved in the G20 security plans, we need to make the most of the rest of the manpower to maintain public peace and security in other sectors,” the official said.
The SMPA has also concluded a special agreement with the National Police Agency and civic security associations to lead a joint security watch over crime-prone districts in the city, according to officials.
The National Emergency Management Agency will also lead an extensive security check-up on major buildings, subway stations and facilities in the metropolitan area until the summit ends, said officials Tuesday.
Assemblies are also subjects to the police watch.
All forms of assemblies and protests are to be prohibited within the 2 kilometer-perimeter from the COEX building from Nov.8 until the end of the summit, according the National Police Agency last week.
The measure is based on the special ordinance, temporarily effectuated to support the G20.
Security officials, however, expect various civic organizations will nevertheless attempt to hold rallies.
“Some organizations seem to consider the G20 an opportunity to make themselves heard during the world summit,” said an official of the SMPA.
“We shall take strong measures against illegal rallies or any potential threats to security.”
Presently, outdoor rallies remain under no restriction as the Constitutional Court last year ruled the assembly law clause banning nocturnal outdoor rallies as not constitutional.
Parties have so far failed to reach an agreement on the substituting revision bill.
Source: http://www.koreaherald.com/business/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20101020000851