The government announced Tuesday that following a related ministers meeting it had established a comprehensive counter-terrorism plan, which included expanding the flight restriction area over nuclear power facilities from the current 3.6km radius to 18km. It also listed measures to contain radiological and bio-chemical terrorist attacks, and raised anthrax, listed as a third level disease, to level one, while also adding smallpox and botulism, a critical food poisoning, to the list.

Also, current counter-terrorism operations, concentrating on armed-forces and chemical attacks, will be split into the specialized fields of as armed-force, chemical, biological, radiological and cyber attacks. In addition, a National Counter-terrorism Committee, headed by the prime minister, will be established under National Security Council, and Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs. The Ministry of Defense will participate in an Anti-terrorism Center, formed under the National Intelligence Service.

In preparation for radiological warfare, major nuclear facilities have been designated as A-level national security targets and radiological monitoring centers have been expanded to 15 areas. Also, an early warning system has been adopted at each health and environmental research center, located in the country’s six provinces, for testing and diagnosis of biological attacks.

(Kim Deok-han, ducky@chosun.com )