S. Korea on Alert After Iraq Dispatch

American installations in South Korea went on a state of high alert last week after intelligence was received that a terrorist attack might be planned in retaliation for the dispatch of Korean troops to Iraq.

More than 33,000 U.S. troops, along with family members, civilians and some military contractors, have had a 9 p.m. curfew since Sept. 24. Roadblocks and armored vehicles have cropped up around U.S. facilities here and access to bases has been restricted, and the South Korean government has increased security around its diplomatic establishments abroad.

U.S. officials have tried to downplay the measures as routine precautions, but people affected say security here is the tightest since just after the Sept. 11 attacks.

A South Korean official said that in recent weeks very “specific intelligence” had been received from the United States, Australia and Indonesia and other countries warning of possible attacks against American and South Korean targets.

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul issued an unusually strong advisory warning American citizens of the increased threat of “suicide operations, bombings or kidnappings” and said that attacks “may involve aviation and other transportation and maritime interests.” The statement attributed the alert to “indications that Al Qaeda and other terror groups continue to prepare to strike U.S. interests” and to the deployment of Korean troops to Iraq.

“It seemed like a prudent thing to do since Korea had just deployed its troops,” said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Islamic terrorism is an unusual concept for South Korea, where the security apparatus is designed around the potential threat from communist North Korea. But the deployment of 2,800 South Korean soldiers to Iraq -- the largest foreign troop presence in the country after U.S. and British forces -- has brought the distant war in the Middle East closer to home.

“There is a sense that this type of terrorist activity is moving from the Middle East to the U.S. and Europe and into Asia. Korea will not be an exception given our close relationship with the United States and the size of the troops dispatch to Iraq,” said Hahm Seung Hee, a former South Korean legislator who spearheaded a National Assembly investigation into suspected activity by Al Qaeda sympathizers in South Korea.

Last year, a Pakistani national with ties to the Al Qaeda terrorist network apparently visited South Korea to scout out possible targets, the investigation found. Another suspect allegedly connected with an Indonesian cell tried to enter the country but was turned back because of faulty travel documents.

Ending a nearly two-month news blackout, the South Korean military announced last week that it had completed the deployment of troops to the Kurdish city of Irbil in northern Iraq. The dispatch began Aug. 3, but the South Korean press agreed to refrain from publicizing the movement until the troops were fully in place.

“We want to be as low-profile as possible about this,” said Moon Chung In, a South Korean academic who has advised the government on the deployment. “We are fulfilling our duties as an ally of the United States, but we see no need to have high visibility.”

There has been no mention of the terrorism alert in the South Korean media, but officials say there are concerns not only about potential attacks against U.S. installations, but also against facilities used mainly by Koreans, such as those involving transportation. South Koreans traveling abroad also have been advised to keep a low profile and some official events have been delayed, officials say.

“This is a small country, so we are able to monitor who goes in and out. But it is harder to protect Koreans abroad,” said a South Korean official, who asked not to be named.

He said that there had been some arrests this year but that suspects had been released for lack of evidence. Not all the suspects were foreigners, and there were concerns that South Koreans might be assisting in terrorist plots. No evidence has emerged of any North Korean involvement, sources said.

The military curfew and new security measures are far more sweeping than those implemented in 2002 during a wave of anti-American demonstrations here, sparked by the deaths of two schoolgirls in a traffic accident involving U.S. troops.

South Korea, one of the most ethnically homogenous countries in Asia, is home to about 100,000 Muslims, two-thirds of them foreigners.

The nation was traumatized by the June beheading of interpreter Kim Sun Il, 33, by kidnappers in Iraq who demanded that the planned troop dispatch be canceled. There have been other incidents against Koreans, including a brief kidnapping of a diplomat in Baghdad, and threats against embassies in Afghanistan and Thailand.