Counter-terrorism drive still slow in Korea

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff reporter

Although South Koreans have been exposed to terrorist threats at home and abroad, no legislation has been drawn up to combat this.

Given the nation has already joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism, the time is ripe for lawmakers to start discussing a counter-terrorism act. Nevertheless, partisan politics remain an obstacle and thus delay the process, parliamentary sources said Wednesday.

In Sana'a, Yemen, on March 18, 2009, a high-ranking government official escaped unhurt after an al-Qaida suicide bomb attack on a car carrying him and two other Koreans on a highway to the airport.

The incident was the second premeditated attack against Koreans by the terrorist group, following the killing of four Korean tourists by an 18-year-old suicide bomber in Shibam three days earlier.

"After arriving at the airport, I saw mud, blood spots and pieces of flesh of the suicide bomber stuck to the front side window of the jeep which carried me and the two other Koreans," the official told The Korea Times last week, asking not to be named.

He, along with the families of the victims, had flown to Yemen to investigate the murder of the tourists that had just taken place.

On their way back to the airport after wrapping up their mission, a 20-year-old suicide bomber, identified as Khaled al-Dhayani, suddenly ran onto the highway and blew himself up in front of the vehicle. Car windows shattered but no passengers were hurt.

In the wake of the second attack, al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the two incidents twice -- one in an Internet statement in March and the other in a video statement released through a media outlet Al-Malahim in June.

In the Internet statement, al-Qaida made it clear that their motives were to "expel the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula" and to make Korea face the consequences of its joining the U.S.-led alliance to fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Citing a local weekly report, independent blogger Jane Novak said the terrorist obtained the route and the schedule of the delegation from security forces who were aware of the attack 12 hours in advance.

In June, al-Qaida released a video statement, titled "I Have Won I Swear to Kaaba's God." According to the Yemen Post newspaper, the terrorist group said the two separate attacks against Koreans were premeditated.

The attacks are prime examples proving that Koreans are becoming targets of international terrorist groups such as al-Qaida after Korea joined the U.S.-led campaign to fight terrorism in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.

Flip side of deepening alliance

Over the past 60 years, the ROK-U.S. alliance has broadened and deepened as it evolved from one of security during the Cold War to a comprehensive partnership encompassing trade, peace-keeping operations and international aid in the post-Cold War era.

Korea, which is under constant threat from North Korea, has benefitted a lot, especially in defense and security, from the developed alliance.

However, being a close friend of the global superpower has come at a price as those who have animosity toward the United States view Korea, a traditional ally, as their enemy by default.

This results in Koreans falling victim to numerous terrorist threats.

In an e-mail interview with The Korea Times, Prof. Stephen Van Evera of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology observed that Korea joining the U.S.-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan does increase the risk of terrorist action against the nation.

Despite the threat, the political scientist called on Korea to keep working with the U.S.-led alliance, saying "the civilized states of the world need to work as a team to contain terrorism."

"Korea is emerging as an important power in Asia and the world. The danger of terror with weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) is serious, and equally threatens all states, including Korea. So, Korea should contribute to all well-considered efforts to address that threat," he said.

Al-Qaida is reportedly seeking to obtain WMDs and has the intention to use them. This indicates that terrorism is a common threat facing the entire international community.

In his posthumously published autobiography entitled "It Was Fate," the late former President Roh Moo-hyun said anyone who is in the presidency needs to manage and maintain the ROK-U.S. alliance well.

He went on to say that his government had made the decision to dispatch troops to Iraq for the sake of the national interest.

Lessons from Afghan war

The Bush administration launched a military campaign to deny al-Qaida sanctuaries overseas in October 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The Afghan war is the centerpiece of the operation.

Korea has joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism from 2002 by sending troops, medical and engineering workforce, as well as aid relief to Afghanistan.

The U.S.-led alliance successfully ousted the Taliban which had sheltered al-Qaida.

Despite the early success, political analysts say the Afghan war is now a quagmire as the Taliban and other insurgent groups have gained strength after the U.S. government started a second war in Iraq in 2003.

Analysts say diverting resources away from the war on al- Qaida for the invasion of Iraq weakened the alliance forces in Afghanistan.

June was the deadliest month for troops in Afghanistan as the Western military death toll marked a record high of 102, the highest yet in the nine-year war.

As Gen. David H. Petraeus described, progress is "harder and slower."

The insurgency gaining ground in Afghanistan implies that the war may go on longer than anticipated. This may lead to more Korean military forces, medical and engineering troops and aid workers, being stationed there until the U.S counterinsurgency effort bears fruit.

Given the Taliban's warning last October that "Korea should be prepared for the consequences" of rejoining the U.S.-led war on terrorism, Koreans' presence in the war-torn nation may invite another targeted attack against them.

Korea withdrew troops from Afghanistan in 2007 after Taliban insurgents detained 23 Korean church volunteers and murdered two of them. This year, troops and aid workers have been sent there again.

The Afghan war, which aims to destroy al-Qaida, also suggests that the war on terrorism will continue as the international terrorist group still exists in several countries including Somalia.

Terror threats and warnings since 2004
June 2004 ― An Islamist extremist group in Iraq kidnaps and beheads Kim Sun-il, a translator and Christian missionary.

Oct. 1, 2004 ― Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, urges Muslims to resist "crusader America" and its allies including South Korea in an audiotape aired through AlJazeera television.

July 2007 ― Taliban insurgents kidnap 23 Korean missionary volunteers. Two of them were killed.

March 15, 2009 ― Teenage suicide bomber, Al-Qaeda operative, kills four Korean tourists in Yemen.

March 18, 2009 ― Al-Qaeda targets South Korean officials in Yemen to investigate the killing of the four tourists.

October 2009 ― A Taliban spokesman warns that Korea should be prepared to deal with the consequences of sending troops back to Afghanistan.

July 2010 ― Members of Korea's provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan come under rocket attack.