A self-proclaimed "anti-American" group is threatening terrorist attacks against eight US allies by the end of the month, including South Korea, Japan, Australia and the Philippines, a South Korean official said yesterday.
The group, called the "Yello-Red Overseas Organization," warned in a one-page letter sent to the South Korean Embassy in Thailand that it will launch the attacks through April 30, embassy spokesman Ryoo Jung-young said by telephone.
The group described itself as "anti-American" and threatened to attack diplomatic compounds, airlines and public transportation systems in eight countries that are US allies or have plans to send troops to Iraq. They are: South Korea, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Kuwait and Pakistan.
PHOTO: AP
Ryoo said it was the first time South Korean authorities had heard of the group and were investigating the threat's credibility. The embassy notified South Korea's Foreign Ministry, the Thai government and police, he said.
The letter was received Wednesday and Thai police said they were stepping up security around the South Korean Embassy in Bangkok. It has about 50 employees.
"We can't neglect this kind of situation," said Thai police Colonel Kasipong Kingsakklang.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry in Seoul said it had not notified other nations on the list but that it had confirmed that the Pakistan Embassy in Bangkok had also received a similar letter, an official said on condition of anonymity. South Korean diplomatic missions worldwide were alerted to the threat.
The country's National Police Agency could not immediately comment on whether it had stepped up precautions in South Korea.
South Korea plans to send some 3,000 more troops to Iraq, which would make it the biggest coalition partner behind the US and Britain.
The deployment, pledged earlier this year for the northern Iraq oil town of Kirkuk, was put on hold amid concerns it would involve combat operations in violation of a parliamentary mandate for peacekeeping.
Seoul is now considering two other towns in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq, Sulaimaniyah and Irbil. No timeframe for the new deployment has been announced.
The dispatch was originally scheduled as early as this month, but officials say it will be pushed back as the military picks a new site and prepares for the new mission.
Last week, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said mounting violence in Iraq has prompted her government to study whether to withdraw its nearly 100 troops from the Mideast nation, although she later said the troops would stay.
Thailand has expressed similar concerns over its 445 noncombat troops in Iraq.
Japan and Australia, which also have troops in Iraq, have pledged to keep them there.
Kuwait, a close US ally in the Gulf region, was used by American-led forces last year as a staging ground to invade Iraq.
Singapore has a special facility for US aircraft carriers and has been a strong supporter of efforts to fight terrorist groups in the region.
Pakistan has no troops in Iraq but has backed the US-led war on the former Taliban regime and al-Qaeda militants in neighboring Afghanistan.
In January, the South Korean Embassy in Bangkok received a threatening letter from a group called "Anti-Korean Interest Agency."
The letter, which made no mention of the war in Iraq, threatened attacks on South Korean diplomatic missions and businesses in Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and other Asian countries.
No attacks were made.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese