The head of the European Union police agency has raised the possibility that the jihadist Islamic State group could conduct attacks on the Euro 2016 soccer tournament in France this summer. He said the tournament was an “attractive target” for terrorists.
The Europol warning reminds Europeans of the tragedy in Paris last November during a friendly soccer match between France and Germany.
Starting from the opening match between France and Romania on June 10, the Euro 2016 finals will run through July 10. There are less than four weeks left until the sports event and tension -- which may go beyond the Zika virus fears before the Rio Summer Olympics -- is growing.
There are 10 venues for the soccer tournament, including Saint-Denis in Paris and stadiums in Bordeaux, Marseille, Toulouse, Lyon and Nice. The popularity of the Euro tournament, which is held every four years, is not limited to Europe but includes worldwide soccer fans. A large number of supporters and spectators from each continent are expected to visit France next month.
There is no doubt that intercontinental coordination among security authorities is needed to weed out visitors with shady purposes around the stadiums and major French cities. South Korea also needs to cooperate with Europol, even though its soccer team is irrelevant with the event.
Neither Korea nor Asia more generally are not safe from terrorist attacks. Terrorism incidents in Bangladesh and Indonesia earlier this year are a wake-up call for countries in East Asia, as it illustrated the rising influence of IS upon jihadists in the region.
Korea should also take the wake-up call seriously, as it is one of 62 countries that have joined the alliance to fight IS. In a statement issued following the Jakarta attacks, the jihadist group made it clear that it would target civilians of countries in the alliance.
IS included South Korea twice, in September and November last year, as one of its future destinations for possible attacks. The government should benchmark the U.S. and China, both of which have issued cautions to their military and citizens over IS attacks. In combating terrorism, the key lies in prevention. Terror attacks should be stopped before they occur, and this requires good intelligence.
According to some Europe-based news outlets, security forces currently have information on about 5,000 people who have joined the extremist group in Syria and Iraq as foreign fighters, and one-third of them have returned to Europe.
IS militants killed 130 people in attacks in Paris last November, most of them were inside the Bataclan during a rock concert.
