Anti-aircraft weapons in World Cup arsenal

The face of World Cup 2002

By Craig Francis
CNN Hong Kong

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Anti-aircraft weaponry is in place to protect South Korean World Cup football venues but the government and armed forces have yet to finalize a strategy to contend with breaches of no-fly zones above the stadia.

A World Cup security department source, who wished to remain anonymous, said on Thursday that President Kim Dae-jung had been briefed on security and presented with a detailed report focusing on anti-terrorism measures.

"The weapons are in place but what will happen in the event of an aircraft flying into prohibited airspace is a different issue," the source told CNN.

"The president was here yesterday discussing this. Shooting down a passenger plane obviously involves a lot of casualties ... it is a very sensitive issue."

"The first objective would be to send air force planes up to redirect the offending plane out of the no-fly zone. Shooting down a plane would, if at all, be very much a final resort."

The anti-aircraft weaponry will be located away from the grounds and will not be visible to visitors to any of the ten World Cup host cities.

"Security personnel will number in the tens of thousands but their presence will not necessarily be high profile, unless needed -- nobody wants to see lots of guns and soldiers when on holiday," the security source said from Seoul.

Remnants of the al Qaeda terrorist group believed responsible for the September 11 attacks on the U.S. and football hooligans are primary concerns or World Cup organizers.

Army patrols

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The Korean army will patrol outside the venues, the navy will be on alert and the air force is to increase patrols to guard against the type of attack the leveled New York's World Trade Center towers.

Security in remote mountain and coastal areas is also being increased.

U.S. delegations at the tournament are being treated as potential key targets of terrorist activity and will be afforded escorts in armed vehicles.

The Korea Times on Thursday quoted National Intelligence Service director Shin Kuhn as saying his agency was coordinating with the United States' CIA, whose operatives would be dispatched to Korea to beef up security against terrorists.

"We have received a list of 2,000 terrorists from intelligence agencies in the Middle East and alerted seaports and airports to block their entry into Korea,'' Shin told The Korea Times.

Hooligans a 'strange phenomena'

South Korea's armed forces and police have had ample experience in dealing with external threats, having long been on high alert in dealing with their communist northern neighbor, North Korea.

Similarly, the police force is well versed in confronting organized student and union demonstrations.

Riot police deal with 'hooligans' in a training exercise

But hooliganism presents a new challenge to security forces.

"Football hooligans are new to Korea -- this is a very strange social phenomena," said the security department source.

To contend with such an alien mindset as the football hooligan, the South Korean authorities have sought the advice of the sport's world governing body FIFA and sent security advisers to high-risk games in Germany and the UK.

Despite the threat of unruly crowd behavior and hooliganism, a decision on whether to ban alcohol inside the grounds has yet to be made.

Spirits will be outlawed but beer sponsorship of the event poses a conundrum for organizers.

Olympic experience

Seoul's experience in holding an Olympic Games will also be drawn upon during the World Cup.

Chemical and industrial installations close to the stadia will be placed under intensified security. The organizing committee of the World Cup also insists that airport security will be bolstered significantly.

While the political climate in the wake of September 11 presents events organizers with immense logistical challenges, the 1988 Seoul Olympics were in some ways a greater threat to South Korea.

A bomb exploding on a Korean passenger airliner in 1987, killing 115 passengers, was linked in Seoul court cases to North Korea, when tensions between the two were already at a nadir.

"In many ways, the Olympics were at a worse time than the World Cup, so I think we will be well prepared," the World Cup security source told CNN.