Fri, Apr 23, 2004 page5

• South Korea receives terror threat

  • AP
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  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.

  

  South Korean Army soldiers aim their machine guns during a civil defense drill against terrorist attacks at the government building in Seoul yesterday. A self-proclaimed ``anti-American'' group has threatened terrorist attacks against eight US allies in the region.

  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.
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