Anti-terror precautions

Anti-terror precautions

Last weekend's multiple suicide bomb attacks in the resort island of Bali proved Indonesia to be the most terror-prone nation in Asia, but any other country in the region can be the next target.

International cooperation is vital in antiterror efforts but we have witnessed no such conspicuous activities by the governments of the region, which is now seeing rapidly growing movements of people for tourism and employment. The upcoming 2005 APEC summit in Busan on Nov. 18-19 and ministerial sessions preceding it should focus on working out practical steps to deter terrorist infiltration although the annual meeting is basically an economic forum.

Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan was briefed in Busan last week on detailed security steps by police who will be helped by military personnel before and during the summit in the sprawling port city. Many kinds of high-tech systems and gadgets will be used to protect visiting VIPs, but more important is the strong determination of all security personnel to fulfill their mission in awareness that a terror attack is a real and present danger in Busan, just as in Bali and New York. -- The Korea Herald, Seoul