(Yonhap Interview) U.N. official backs S. Korea's anti-terrorism bill

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, March 26 (Yonhap) -- A visiting U.N. official in charge of
counter-terrorism on Thursday backed South Korea's move to introduce
anti-terrorism legislation, saying a recent attack on South Korean tourists in
Yemen showed the nation is not immune to the problem.
Michael Smith, executive director of the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Executive
Directorate (CTED), pointed out that the March 15 suicide bomber attack which
killed four South Koreans was a wake up call that terrorist attacks are an
omnipresent threat.
"It demonstrates again this is a very serious threat. This underlines a point
which we try to make...which is that terrorism is everyone's business and that
every person is potentially threatened by terrorism," he said in an interview
before his meetings with Vice Foreign Minister Shin Kak-soo and other senior
officials at the ministry, police, and the state intelligence agency.
Smith, formerly an Australian ambassador for counter-terrorism, leads the U.N.
organization tasked with monitoring the implementation of the Security Council
Resolution 1373. The resolution, one of the strongest endorsed by the council,
was adopted days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States to
place barriers on the movement, organization and fundraising activities of
terrorist groups. The binding resolution requires countries to deny financial
resources to terrorists, to criminalize terrorism, and to cooperate with other
nations in bringing terrorists to justice.
The U.N. official said that South Korea has been "very serious" about the
implementation of the resolution, citing tight border control and an active
financial intelligence unit.
He suggested that South Korea do more by passing the anti-terrorism bill, which
has been pending in the National Assembly for years.
The Yemen terrorist attack has rekindled public interest in the bill, which aims
to provide solid legal grounds for government-led efforts to thwart terrorism.
Many conservatives support the bill, but human rights activists raise worries
that the authorities, especially the state intelligence agency, may be granted
excessive power, authorizing them to violate the right to privacy and other
civil liberties.
Smith said such a debate is "normal in every country" but refused to go into
details. He added he has yet to review the draft of the bill and will be given
a briefing on the details in his meetings with South Korean officials.
"These sorts of laws are important to ground whatever action governments take,
whatever institutions they establish," he said. "One of the approaches the U.N.
always encourages in conducing counter-terrorism is that the country should stay
within the rule of law. The rule of law means there should be legislation and
parliamentary should be supportive of it."
He said his team is willing to make some suggestions after looking through the bill.
"Normally there are some elements we would hope to be in the bill. Criminalizing
terrorism is the basic issue. But there are other aspects," he said. "I have
legal experts who have seen what other nations have done and can offer
suggestions on what other countries have done and what may be useful here."
Smith said South Korea can share its skills, especially on airport security, with
other nations. He added he also wants to visit North Korea for discussions on
counter-terrorism issues.
"We do have dialogue with North Korea, although not a substantial one. We've
never visited North Korea. In future, we probably will," he said.
He is scheduled to fly to Singapore on Saturday after a four-day stay here. It is
his second trip here after the previous one in 1998 in his capacity as chief of
staff for the then Australian foreign minister.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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