South Korea's Security Alert: Defense Minister Inspects APEC Safety Control Tower

Ahn made the visit to the Security Safety Control Group and the military's Operations Command in charge of ensuring the safety and protection of participants for the multilateral event set for October 31 and November 1 in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Security Safety Control Group is a special unit launched to ensure safety for heads of state, delegates and other participants at the upcoming summit.

Ahn stressed the role of the group as the "core control tower" for providing safety and protection for the event, and also urged close cooperation with relevant agencies, including the military, the Presidential Security Service and the National Intelligence Service.

Ahn called on the military to make all-out efforts to ensure there should be no lapses in security and guard operations during the event.

Earlier in the day, South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young called on the leaders of North Korea and the United States not to miss a golden opportunity for having dialogue on the occasion of next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in South Korea.

US President Donald Trump's planned visit to South Korea on October 29-30 for the APEC gathering has spawned speculation that he may seek a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un though the possibility of such a meeting appears low.

"The leaders of North Korea and the US should not miss this opportunity. They should make a decision," Chung told reporters, noting that if realised, the possible Kim-Trump meeting could pave the way for bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula.

He said it would be much more difficult for the North and the US to prepare for a meeting between their leaders in terms of logistics if they miss a chance for talks in South Korea.

Trump met with Kim three times during his first term -- two summit talks, in Singapore in June 2018 and in Hanoi in February 2019, and a brief meeting at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.

Chung said there has been no confirmed information about contacts underway between the North and the US, but claimed there are "signs" of both sides apparently preparing for possible talks.

The minister cited North Koreans detected doing cleanup work near the North's facility inside Panmunjom and the UN Command's suspension of trips to the truce village until next week.

"At Panmunjom, signs were detected of North Koreans cleaning at its facility, plucking grass, arranging flowerbeds and shooting photos," Chung said, noting that such signs were spotted within the past seven days.

"It marked the first time that the North has been detected doing cleanup work this year (at the truce village)."

- IANS