Asian Airports Strengthen Security after Brussels Attacks

Bloomberg

23 March 2016

Airports in Asia, including Tokyo and Seoul, increased security around terminals following the bomb attacks that killed at least 31 people in Brussels Tuesday.
Incheon airport, which serves Seoul, will add around 700 more staff for security monitoring and explosive detection, the operator Incheon International Airport Corp. said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. Authorities will now closely check areas such as restrooms and trash cans. Narita Airport, east of Tokyo has also strengthened patrol of any suspicious objects, said Tsuyoshi Ohtake, a spokesman at Narita International Airport Corp.
Asian airports had stepped up scrutiny since the Paris terrorist attacks and a suspected bombing of a Russian aircraft by the Islamic State last year. Much of the security checks at aerodromes have been focused on stopping terrorists from boarding planes, with measures such as full-body scans, shoe checks and ban on everything from liquids to nail clippers.

… “The threat is large and the threat is growing,” said Rohan Gunaratna, who runs the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. “Governments need specific counter terrorism intelligence.”

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