World War 3: Seoul to DOUBLE number of troops for Winter Games amid North Korea threat
SOUTH Korea is doubling the number of troops and setting up crack cyber-defence and anti-terror teams in a bid to increase security as tensions with North Korea continue to escalate.
By SIMON OSBORNE
Express.co.uk
Thu, Sep 28, 2017
The Defence Ministry says it plans to deploy 5,000 armed forces personnel at the 2018 Winter Games – double the 2,400 on duty during the 2002 World Cup which the country co-hosted with Japan.
Next February’s international event takes place just 50 miles from the heavily fortified border with its volatile, nuclear-armed neighbour.
POCOG, the organising committee for the event in the mountainous resort town of Pyeongchang, will selecting a private cyber security company to guard against hacking from North Korea.
The committee wants to fast-track the process as tensions rise in the wake of South Korea’s controversial deployment of the US THAAD anti-missile system and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un unprecedented series of weapons tests.
An official document says: “Cyber threats have increased due to external factors such as the THAAD deployment and recent North Korean missile launches.
“The committee will make all-out efforts to ensure the Pyeongchang Olympics are the safest ever, it said.
“We strongly believe we can host the Olympics successfully as we have invested a lot and prepared well for cyber security.”
South Korea has blamed the Pyongyang for a series of hacking attempts in the last few years, including a 2013 cyber attack against banks and broadcasters that froze computer systems for more than a week.
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