Global General

Police on top alert for upcoming G20 summit

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-04 17:11

SEOUL -- South Korean police will be put on the highest alert ahead of the Group of 20 summit next week, which will bring together heads of state and government and business leaders in Seoul, the presidential office said Thursday.

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The alert level will last for eight days starting on November 6, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said after an inter-agency meeting which assessed security situations and discussed measures to counter possible terrorists threat.

The meeting was presided over by Presidential Chief of Staff Yim Tae-hee. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, state intelligence agency chief Won Sei-hoon, and national police head Cho Hyun-oh were among the attendees.

The government said it would designate security zones around the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in southern Seoul, the venue for the summit slated for November 11-12. All rallies and demonstrations within the zone will be banned November 8-12.

The police earlier said it would put 30,000 policemen and 20, 000 right police officers on standby for the summit, the largest scale ever for a single event held in the country. Security will also be beefed up around facilities deemed vulnerable to potential terrorist threat, including subway stations.