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The international terrorist organization al-Qaida has publicly warned nine nations, including Korea, that they would be subject to terrorist attacks. Accordingly, the government has strengthened its defense posture by doing things like deploying special police units at major facilities within Korea. It also handed down emergency orders to strengthen security measures at Korean legations abroad.
The government said it was taking talk of Korea as a target of terrorism seriously, and one needed to see the warning as the start of a fight that nobody knows when will finish. USFK has already put a curfew on its soldiers. The situation is becoming one in which nobody knows when and where al-Qaeda may attempt to strike.
Even while the government and people rush to prepare for the terrorist threat, it¡¯s important that they firm their will not to submit to that threat. The threat of terror first looks to shake or break the will of the target. This effect leads to yet more threats. Despite this, with voices claiming ¡°We need to consider pulling our troops out of Iraq¡± and ¡°Why must we be become a target like this?¡± as soon as terrorist threats are made, perhaps the terrorists are cracking smiles of elation. The government mustn¡¯t run about in confusion while trying to read peoples¡¯ minds.
If one is to participate in the international community and protect one¡¯s national interests, one must put up with the burdens that come with it. The government must educate the citizens about this, and earn their understanding and cooperation.
In order to thoroughly guard against terrorism and obtain precise information about terrorism, international cooperation must be strengthened. Minute countermeasures against all sorts of possible terrorist attacks should be prepared, and the citizens should be made aware of the gist of those countermeasures. As for countermeasure bodies, to run the ¡°Korean Expatriates in Iraq Security Countermeasure Committee¡± only would be insufficient; we will need to operate a pan-governmental response system through things like regularizing the ¡°Terrorism Countermeasures Committee¡± under the office of the prime minister. To confront the terrorist threat requires three things ? thorough preparation, perfect information, and citizen awareness.
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