Sejong, Jeonbuk, and Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agencies Establish 'Counter-Terrorism Special Forces'... Drones Deployed at Nuclear Power Plants and Oil Storage Bases

National Counterterrorism Comprehensive Drill. The police special forces are suppressing a bus terror attack.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] 'Counter-Terrorism Special Forces' will be newly established in the Sejong, Jeonbuk, and Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agencies. Additionally, military-owned thermal imaging surveillance equipment (TOD) will be redeployed to some nuclear power plants and petroleum storage bases for pilot operation.

On the 7th, the government held the 10th National Counter-Terrorism Committee meeting at the Government Seoul Office, chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, and finalized the '2020 National Counter-Terrorism Activity Promotion Plan' with these details.

The Counter-Terrorism Center and related agencies aim to maintain a stable readiness posture by preemptively blocking terrorist threat factors, establishing nine key tasks including blocking terrorist risk individuals, and committing to thorough implementation.

First, border control will be strengthened to block the entry of international terrorists such as Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTF), and terrorist threat factors will be intensively managed. Monitoring of terrorist funding activities by foreigners residing in Korea will be enhanced, and legal and institutional improvements for drone terrorism prevention and response will continue.

Furthermore, countermeasure organizations such as the Counter-Terrorism Working Committee, Terrorism Information Council, and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Terrorism Response Council will be promptly activated to actively respond to counter-terrorism issues. Alongside this, counter-terrorism drills will be conducted concurrently during events such as the Ulchi Taeguk Exercise and Disaster Response Safety Korea Training, and counter-terrorism education courses will be established at the Korea National Defense University and the National Civil Defense Disaster Safety Training Institute to enhance the expertise of counter-terrorism personnel.

Moreover, cooperation systems will be maintained with organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and government joint counter-terrorism personnel will be dispatched to the Tokyo Summer Olympics to carry out counter-terrorism and safety activities.

In addition, revisions to related laws necessary for counter-terrorism activities, including the Radio Waves Act, Chemical Substances Control Act, Customs Act, and Radiation Disaster Prevention Act, will be pursued, and manuals will also be updated. The integrated control system related to chemical accidents and terrorism will be improved, and research on current issues such as the legal basis for firearm use by military personnel deployed in counter-terrorism operations will be conducted. The 'AI X-Ray' system operated by customs will also be advanced.

In particular, consular officers responsible for incidents and accidents at overseas diplomatic missions, port security personnel reinforcement, and the establishment of counter-terrorism special forces in three provincial police agencies?Sejong, Jeonbuk, and Gyeongbuk?will be implemented.

Sejong is densely populated with major government institutions, and Jeonbuk and Gyeongbuk are regions lacking counter-terrorism special forces. Considering the recent terrorism environment, these areas were identified as needing the establishment of counter-terrorism special forces. Accordingly, the special forces of the Sejong, Jeonbuk, and Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agencies, scheduled to be established in July, have been designated as counter-terrorism special forces.

Since October last year, a task force (TF) composed of related agencies has been formed to inspect the prevention and response status of drone terrorism efforts and to prepare comprehensive countermeasures.

Military-owned TOD will be redeployed to some nuclear power plants and petroleum storage bases for pilot operation, and a roadmap for each task, including joint illegal drone response training by related agencies and anti-drone technology development, will be prepared and implemented.

Prime Minister Chung emphasized, "The safety of the people is our government's top priority," and urged, "Related agencies must do their best to carry out preventive activities and respond with the highest level of action if signs of terrorism are detected."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.