With the series of US and UK retaliation strikes against Afghanistan beginning Monday, each provincial government is preparing to provide appropriate measures to minimize the effects of the war against terrorism. Meanwhile citizens accepted the news calmly, with no hint of stocking up necessities ot panic buying. Seoul local government announced that it would provide a W50 billion stabilization-fund for exporters at an interest rate of 6.25% annually, with W500 million limits per company.

Gangwon Province indefinitely postponed a Tuesday promotion event to introduce the tourism resources of the region in a bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, scheduled to be participated in by 83 diplomats from 46 countries.

Pakistani workers at Seongman Foreign Laborers’ House, Gyeonggi Province, showed their worries for the home country. Mudasar Samebabar, whose seven family members live in Pakistan, said that he prays everyday for the safety of the family and for this war to end. Another Pakistani, Tarik, who works at a furniture company in Goyangi, also in Gyeonggi Province, says that he wishes for no more sacrifices of innocent civilians, adding that he called home to make sure about the security of his family, even though they live far from the Afghanistan border.

Some eleven armed police officers have been dispatched to five Muslim mosques in Anyang, Gwangju and Paju, Gyeonggi Province, however, the majority of attendees are from Pakistan and Indonesia, and they regard their religion as completely separate from the terrorist attacks and the US’s strikes. However, in Paju, the mosque is located within a kilometer of the US army base, and therefore contact between personnel and local workers has been controlled to prevent possible disputes.

A series of international seminars scheduled to take place on Jeju Island have been canceled, damaging the tourism industry, while exporters to the Middle East region are expecting suspension in business due to the military action near the region.

A disposable syringe exporter in Bucheon who plans to ship US$300,000 worth of his products to Karachi, Pakistan on Wednesday worries about the possible closure of the harbor due to the strike. In addition, cargo insurance fees rose by US$150 per TEU (20 foot equivalent unit) since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11.

Kim In-gyu, head of Korea International Trade Association’s Incheon branch, says that the exports of manufactured goods to the Middle East ranked third in volume, following the US and Japan, and a protracted war will negatively affect exports to neighboring countries such as Uzbekistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar. Exports to the Middle East from the Incheon manufacturing complex between January and September 2001 reached US$61,153 million, a 16.1% rise compared to the same period last year.

Winix Inc. of Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, which has not received US$320,000 for a waste incinerator exported to Oman, said that they are not certain whether they will be able to collect the outstanding balance in time. Woosin Systems in the Sihwa Industrial complex, Ansan, has exported US$13 million worth of automobile manufacturing lines to Iran, but announced that it is considering evacuating engineers dispatched to the country if the strikes develop into all-out war.

(Kim Chang-wu, cwkim@chosun.com )