South Korea’s government raised the terrorism alert level for five diplomatic missions in Southeast Asia, China and Russia from “attention” to “alert” status on May 2., warning North Korea could attack South Korean diplomats overseas. The country’s terror alert has four levels - attention, caution, alert and serious - with “alert” indicating a “high risk of a terrorist attack.”
The government raised the terrorism alert to the second highest level for Korean embassies in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as consulates in Vladivostok, Russia, and the Chinese city of Shenyang. The announcement came after the Foreign Ministry held a committee meeting with the National Counter Terrorism Center of the Office for Government Policy Coordination. The last time the terrorism alert at diplomatic missions was raised to “alert” level was 14 years ago after the Navy ship Cheonan ship was bombed and sunk by a North Korean torpedo attack in March 2010.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it has recently uncovered “numerous indications that North Korea is preparing to carry out terrorist attacks against our diplomats in various countries, including China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.” The NIS added that “North Korea has dispatched agents to these countries to expand surveillance of South Korean diplomatic missions and is also conducting specific activities such as searching for Korean nationals to target.”
North Korea has been planning these attacks in response to the post-pandemic return of long-term overseas assignees, including diplomats, trade workers, and students, many of whom are reportedly skeptical of the North Korean regime. This has led to a significant number of defections, according to the NIS. “North Korean officials, aiming to deflect blame for these ‘voluntary departures’ from the regime, have falsely reported these defections to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as external provocations, subsequently seeking retaliation against South Korean diplomats,” the NIS explained.
Among the diplomatic missions on heightened alert are Vladivostok and Shenyang, both of which are close to North Korea and host North Korean operatives. In Vladivostok, Choi Duk-geun, a consul assigned by the NIS to investigate a dollar counterfeiting operation in Pyongyang and drug trafficking in North Korea, was murdered by an unidentified assailant in 1996. His body was found to contain neostigmine bromide, a poison commonly used by North Korean operatives.
Similarly, near Shenyang in Dandong, China, missionary Kim Chang-hwan, who was helping North Korean defectors, died under mysterious circumstances in 2011. The same poison was detected on blood-stained gloves.
Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos, which are also on “alert” levels, are major escape routes for North Korean defectors and have historically been close allies of North Korea. “We will strengthen our intelligence activities with the possibility of terrorism in mind, not only in countries where signs of North Korean terrorist threats have been detected, but also in other regions, and will work closely with relevant organizations such as the foreign ministry to ensure the safety of South Koreans,” the NIS said.
