A hotel under renovation is seen near Bomun Lake in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Aug. 21. (Yonhap)
A hotel under renovation is seen near Bomun Lake in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Aug. 21. (Yonhap)

South Korean police and fire authorities are on high alert with the intergovernmental meeting for member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation just over a month away.

Police are reportedly working to seal off the venue around Bomun Lake in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, by blocking all roads that lead to the lakeside during the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. They also seek to mobilize up to 18,500 police officers a day to ensure security, control traffic and prevent protesters.

Drone signal jammers, armored police vehicles and helicopters will also reportedly be deployed to the area.

This follows a police announcement the previous week that a two-day motorcade training in Gyeongju for the APEC event took place with nearly 600 staff from Sept. 8. A follow-up field exercise will also be conducted in October involving police cars and motorcycles.

Some 480 employees of Gyeongju's municipal government, fire authorities, police and military on Thursday jointly underwent emergency readiness training to respond to a potential mass-casualty incident. A similar readiness exercise was also conducted at Pohang Gyeongju Airport on Sept. 5, involving some 160 people, to respond to aviation incidents and bioterrorism inside an airport.

The APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is poised to take place at Gyeongju Hwabaek International Convention Center near the shores of Bomun Lake.

This will be the second time South Korea hosts an APEC summit, having previously hosted in 2005.


consnow@heraldcorp.com