ed What if he's terrorist

Complacency behind security breach at gov’t building

What if he were a lone wolf terrorist or a North Korean agent working in tandem with a group of outside saboteurs with the mission of paralyzing the government?

The Paris attacks and Brussels mayhem remain fresh in memory, but obviously they failed to jolt Korea ― its government and people ― out of their fragile sense of security and the complacency that comes with it. Do we need Parisian blood and Belgian tears to wake us up to the new reality that our society is not as safe as we think it is?

A man, 26, who was studying to be a public servant, was arrested for breaking into a government building in downtown Seoul at least six times and hacking a computer at the Ministry of Personnel Management to manipulate his score in recent state exams.

Astonishing is that no guards or security systems caught him. He passed the gate by blending in with a group of public servants entering the building coming to work in the morning. Then, he stole three identification cards from gym lockers and used them to pass through ID-swiping turnstiles, the second line of security. Then, he hid himself away until after office hours and roamed around to the hiring offices. There, he obviously faced little or no problem in making his way to the computer where they keep the data and then broke through four firewall security systems as if they weren’t even there.

All three persons whose IDs were stolen failed to report they were missing as required. It took days before the public servants discovered the digital intrusion and then tracked down the manipulated scores. Finally, surveillance camera recordings were studied before the trespasser was found. The culprit had spent a total of nine hours in what was supposed to be a building with maximum security without being checked even once, making one wonder about the security of other buildings.

Throw a couple of other factors in and the picture becomes even more worrisome.

North Korea, being pressed by ever-tougher U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and long-range missile tests, has publicly threatened to attack Cheong Wa Dae and President Park Geun-hye. All evidence indicates that Pyongyang is about to mount additional provocations to shift the balance of power to its advantage. Middle East-born terrorism is no longer just targeting Europe and the United States but is now reaching out to Asia. Already, the Islamic State (IS) has included Korea as a target state. Some foreigners tied to or having sympathies with terrorist groups have been discovered and deported.

In other words, Korea shouldn’t be regarded as a terrorist-free zone but people have obviously become inured to the clear and present dangers posed by North Korea in both conventional and asymmetric attacks and now take their security and safety for granted because no attacks have taken place in their vicinity.

Also adding to this woeful mix is that only four years ago a deranged man in his 60s made his way into the same building using a forged pass and set an 18th floor office on fire before jumping out the window to his death. The latest incident took place despite the government’s promise to upgrade security. We have not learned.

Now a more systematic approach is called for. First, the government should show how seriously it is taking the latest security breach by meting out severe punishment to those who are responsible ― not excluding the interior minister whose portfolio includes the security of the building, if it comes to that. Also worth considering is the creation of an outside non-government group of experts to find loopholes and recommend measures for plugging them. Finally, education on terrorism should be introduced in all grades of the nation’s schools. It is better to be safe than sorry.