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Meeting Security Needs
| Article
# : |
14891 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1988 |
1,199 Words |
| Author
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J.Y. Ra
J.Y. Ra is professor of political science and dean of the
graduate school at Kyung Hee University in the Republic of
Korea |
Security at the Seoul Summer Olympics is not, of course, a concern of the South Koreans alone. As a record number of nations have officially entered the Games, more than 13,000 sports officials and contestants are expected to be Seoul during the Olympic Games, in addition to journalists and tourists. However, the significance of the coming events in Seoul is not to be accounted for by the number of participants alone. After two consecutive politically marred Olympiads in Moscow and Los Angeles, the Games in Seoul appear to reflect the present mood of détente in international relations. So far, there is no bloc of nations boycotting for political reasons. Thus, the chances for security would appear to be reasonably good at first glance. However, what is to come may not be as easy as that.
So far, only six nations have turned their backs on the Seoul Olympics--which is negligible in terms of numbers alone. However, among the six maverick nations is North Korea, which has had irreconcilable and often fratricidal rival relations with South Korea ever since the establishment of two separate regimes in Korea in 1948. What troubles those concerned with the security problems of the upcoming Olympics is that North Korea is one of a handful of states branded as a terrorist country by the U.S. State Department. Ever since its inception, North Korea has displayed a tendency to resort to violence, be it full-scale invasion, commando-type raids, or state terrorism.
It is no secret that the Kim II Sung regime was extremely embarrassed and annoyed when it learned that the 24th Olympiad was to be awarded to Seoul. North Korean delegates went out of their way to prevent the decision, making the point that Seoul was a security risk area, a theme repeated in North Korea's subsequent campaign to frustrate South Korea's hosting the Games. The foremost problem is that North Korea has the capacity to make this allegation a reality, as was tragically demonstrated in November 1987 by its wanton destruction of the Korean Airlines passenger plane with 115 people aboard.
There have been verbal assurances that this will not happen. North Korea denies any intention to disrupt the Olympics. Seo Jin Young, the head of the North Korean delegation in Paris, recently dismissed claims that North Korea might terrorize the Seoul Olympics as nothing more than slander: "Why would we want to harm the people of South Korea? They are Koreans like us." The Soviet Union and China are understood to have exerted whatever influence they have to dissuade North Korea from embarking on violence. During the May summit between President Reagan and Mikhail
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