South Korea ejects foreigners before the Winter Olympics

Lee Hee-beom, center, president of the Pyeongchang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and attendance are silhouetted as they participate in a launching ceremony of the commemorative coins and bank notes for the Games, in Seoul, South Korea. As officials prepare for the games in and around the small mountain town of Pyeongchang, there are lingering worries over the huge financial burden facing one of the nation’s poorest regions. Local officials hope that the Games will provide a badly needed economic boost by marking the area as a world-class tourist destination. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

South Korea have sent 17 foreigners from the country as part of anti-terror measures ahead of the Winter Olympics, according to South Korean media.

 

The country’s immigration office reported to The Korea Times newspaper that those ejected are from five different countries,including nations in Central and Southeast Asia.

They were either members of international terrorist groups, or on a list of sought-after people circulating among intelligence agencies in 50 countries.

‘We must be very thorough in action against terrorism, since athletes,and people from all over the world are coming to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

We don’t rule out the possibility that foreign terrorists could enter the country by pretending to be Olympic travellers, or employees in Korean companies. So we must be alert before and during the Olympics,’ said a spokesperson.

South Korea recently conducted anti-terrorism exercises with hundreds of armed police and firemen in and around the Olympic arenas in Pyeongchang and Gangneung. During the games,approximately 5,000 armed soldiers will keep a watch around the arenas.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today