South Korea puts airports on alert after al-Qaeda warning

Airline Industry Information, July 13, 2004

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Airport authorities in South Korea have increased security after an e-mail alert that a person linked to al-Qaeda would enter the country.

Security at the country's airports has been on high alert ever since the decision to send 3,000 South Korean troops to Iraq in March 2004. Although security has been tightened further, authorities said they were sceptical about the e-mail.

The note said that wanted terrorist Abdul Razak would attempt to enter South Korea to attend a Christian function in the country. Razak is on the international no-fly list and would use an assumed name to travel.

South Korean air traffic control received the e-mail on 12 July 2004 from a yahoo.com address outside of the country. It followed a letter to the US embassy in Seoul claiming that a US-bound flight from South Korea's Inchon International Airport would be bombed, reports Reuters.

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