By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter

The government will carry out joint security checks on major transportation operations, such as high-speed trains and subways, next week to prevent terror attacks ahead of the troop dispatch to Iraq. Bullet trains will start commercial operations on April 1.

The government on Thursday mapped out a set of anti-terrorism measures. Officials are worried that the country could become a target for international terrorists, following the bombings in Madrid, Spain, a nation that also sent troops to Iraq.

At a meeting with relevant ministry officials, Huh Sung-kwan, minister of government administration and home affairs, said the government will concentrate its efforts on thwarting any attempts to shock the country.

``We have to check (the security conditions) and prepare (for possible terrorist attacks), because we will also dispatch troops to Iraq in April,’’ Huh said.

Tension is rising as South Korea is set to hold parliamentary polls on April 15. In Spain the bombings, which left over 200 people dead and another 1,600 wounded last Thursday, occurred only three days before its general election.

Joint inspections by relevant ministries and security agencies will be carried out from March 24 to 25 on the country’s 83 major public transportation operations.

Anti-terrorism drills will be held in major cities to prepare people for terrorist attacks, while inbound airplanes that travel through terror-prone countries will be put under intensive security checks.

The government will beef up its intelligence-sharing system with foreign countries to detect terrorist threats and will seek cooperation of foreign governments to protect Koreans and their businesses overseas.

A day earlier, Acting President Goh Kun ordered the government to take steps to prevent possible terrorist assaults. Goh was responding to the Madrid bombings.

The simultaneous blasts helped trigger a major upset in the Sunday poll in Spain, ushering in a Socialist leader who pledged to pull the country’s troops from Iraq.

Seoul is set to deploy an additional 3,000 troops, consisting of both combat-ready soldiers and non-combat personnel, to Kirkuk, northern Iraq, to help rehabilitate the war-devastated Middle Eastern country.

im@koreatimes.co.kr