S. Korea beefs up air safety measures for upcoming ASEAN meeting

By Koh Byung-joon
SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Monday it will step up safety measures
against possible threats in its airspace during upcoming summit talks with the
leaders of Southeast Asian countries.

According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, the nation's
airspace safety level will be raised by one notch to "caution," starting
Wednesday through June 4. It is the third-highest of the nation's five-tier
airspace safety alert system.
The move comes as South Korea is preparing for talks between heads of state and
businesspeople from South Korea and member countries of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to be held on the southern resort island of Jeju
on June 1-2.
The ministry said that it will beef up patrols and passenger screening at
airports and inside airplanes in and out of the country during the summit talks.
To minimize inconveniences due to tightened safety measures, more workers will be
on duty at checkpoints, it added.
"We usually activate the safety level (caution) when there might be a threat to
airports or airplanes or when there is a national event that draws important
guests," the ministry said in a statement, adding the latest move is an
"inevitable" action to guarantee air safety during the summit.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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