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The anti-terrorist unit made up of members of the army, navy and air force launched a security operation between Seoul and Suwon, Wednesday, to ensure the safety of the US team, which is regarded as a high-risk terrorist target. The operation started with bomb and chemical detection robots checking the inside of the World Cup stadium in Suwon at 9:00am.
Some 2,500 policemen, anti-biological warfare KM9 vehicles, troops from the 707th Special Warfare Unit and UDT naval forces were deployed to guard the stadium.
The US team bus departed the Marriott hotel in Banpo-dong, Seoul at 3pm tracked by the National Police Agency's World Cup Monitoring Office operating a real time Global Positioning System (GPS), and escorted by a special armed squad. Some 27 members of the Special Police Forces guarded the exit of the hotel, while according to an insider CIA trained bodyguards were infiltrated into the stadium under cover.
From two hours before the match started, skies above the stadium were designated a no-fly zone protected by fighter aircraft.
Portable 'Mistral' anti-aircraft missiles were located on the stadium roof and a UH-60 helicopter patrolled looking for low flying paragliders or model aircraft. Also, snipers covered all walking areas near the stadium. The US team rejected South Korean undercover armed agents for confidential reasons, as the team is in the same group as Korea.
(Shin Dong-heun, dhshin@chosun.com )
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