Security officials are warning that an al Qaeda attack is likely at the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting scheduled to meet in mid-November in Busan, Korea. President Bush is scheduled to attend the meeting.

While there will be heavy security around APEC officials, including President Bush, recent attacks in London indicate that terrorist may target soft-targets, such as transportation centers, or the capital of Seoul. Let's hope the South Koreans pull together security before the meeting takes place.

Al Qaeda has threatened South Korea in the past and a ring of Religion of Peace militants was broken up in that country last year. Members of al Qaeda's Southeast Asian sister-organization, Jemaah Islamiyah, would probably be those most likely to carry out the attacks. Joong Ang Daily:

A very high possibility exists that Al-Qaeda or related organizations will carry out an attack during the APEC meeting," said Chung Hyung-keun, a Grand National Party lawmaker on the National Assembly's intelligence committee. "Including world leaders, there will be around 100,000 people from many countries visiting Busan for the meeting."

U.S. President George W. Bush is one of those expected to attend.

Mr. Chung added that other parts of Korea may be targeted as well, including Seoul. "The National Intelligence Service has said Seoul is certainly a target," he said. "When terrorists recently attacked London, they attacked the British capital even though the Group of 8 meeting was taking place in Scotland."...

"We're preparing for attacks on land, air, railways and the sea," said Mr. Chung. "The preparations currently being undertaken are unprecedented in Korean history."

The reasons for any attack, say Mr. Chung and other intelligence officials interviewed by the JoongAng Ilbo, are mostly related to the U.S. military presence on the peninsula and the dispatch of Korean troops to Iraq, where South Koreans constitute the third-largest contingent among the coalition forces, behind the United States and Britain.

Last year, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a senior Al-Qaeda leader, included South Korea in his announcement that denounced the U.S. and European governments.

"The interests of America, Britain, Australia, France, Poland, Norway, South Korea and Japan are spread everywhere," al-Zawahiri said. "They all took part in the invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq or Chechnya or enabled Israel to survive. We can't wait or we [Muslim nations] will be eaten up country by country."

An intelligence official told the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity that, "As terrorists have been targeting countries that have dispatched troops to Iraq, we are reinforcing our preparations for the APEC meeting."

However, threats against the APEC meeting have not been the sole source of alarm for the intelligence community here. According to Mr. Chung, a group of Islamic fundamentalists from the Middle East was raided last year by the National Intelligence Service while planning an attack on South Korean soil. They were reportedly a mix of persons residing in South Korea and those entering on tourist visas.

In addition, news reports have revealed that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a senior Al-Qaeda leader, has several years ago come to Seoul to gather intelligence on South Korea's airport security. In 1999, Nizar Nawar, who is allegedly responsible for a 2002 terrorist attack in Tunisia, stayed illegally in Pocheon, Gyeonggi province, for more than six months while collecting intelligence. Both mens' visits went undetected.

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