Immigration Controls

[Anchor Lead]

Immigration control at Incheon International Airport came under criticism earlier this year when several foreigners slipped through the airport's security system to smuggle themselves into the country. Now the Ministry of Justice will increase patrols and CCTV surveillance around the clock by setting up a department in charge of security at airport's immigration section.

[Pkg]

In January, two Chinese visitors who were at Incheon International Airport for a transfer snuck through immigration and security checkpoints in the early morning hours to steal their way into Korea. Just eight days later, a Vietnamese transfer passenger forced open a door to the automatic immigration area and smuggled himself into the country. These incidents exposed the security lapses at the airport and now the Ministry of Justice has proposed a plan to rectify the problems. A 20-member team will be in charge of security at the immigration area to oversee the program systematically. Security loopholes will be looked into as well. Access to unused immigration areas will be completely blocked by shutting steel gates and surveillance cameras will be utilized more extensively.

[Soundbite] Kim Yong-gyu(Immigration Office, Incheon Int'l Airport) : "CCTV equipment has been substantially upgraded. They will be monitored around the clock and suspicious people will be checked immediately by patrol teams."

Also, starting next year, a new system that will analyze passenger data before boarding to prevent people on entry ban or suspected terrorists from entering the country. In order to operate this system, the government plans to increase the number of data analyzers.