South Korea raises national terror alert to 'severe'

South Korea raises national terror alert to 'severe'

2010-11-08 14:32:40 GMT+7 (ICT)

SEOUL (BNO NEWS) -- South Korea on Monday raised its national terrorism alert to the highest level ahead of the G-20 summit that begins in Seoul on Thursday, police said.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it raised the alert level to 'severe' in preparation of the fifth meeting of the G-20 heads of government, which will take place in Seoul from Thursday to Friday. The agency did not say if there was a specific threat to raise the alert level.

It is the first time that South Korea raised its terrorism alert level to 'severe' since it adopted the system in 2001, in wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Leaders from scores of nations and other organizations are scheduled to attend the summit. This includes U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Mexican President Felipe Calderón, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and other world leaders.

Tens of thousands of police officers have been sent to the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in Seoul, where the summit will take place, and other key locations such as airports, foreign consulates, hotels and subway stations.

It will be the first time that the G-20 summit is held in Seoul. The previous summits were held in Washington, D.C., London, Pittsburgh and Toronto.

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