Tag: ISIS

Here is an update on the Syrian man that was arrested in Incheon for trying to recruit ISIS members:

A Syrian man is being tried in the first case under the anti-terrorism law enacted in 2016, Incheon District Court said Monday.

A second hearing was held Monday behind closed doors to prevent details being revealed during the ongoing probe and to protect identities.

The man, 33, is accused of showing ISIS propaganda video tapes to Iraqi workers in a junkyard at Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province.

ISIS, also known as Daesh, is internationally designated as a terrorist organization that follows the fundamentalist doctrine of Sunni Islam.

He is also accused of recruiting for ISIS through Facebook. His phone records showed he was an active member of the organization.

A person who recruits for a terrorist group can be jailed for up to five years.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but after his arrest six other people he interacted with were deported.

These deportations and arrest will likely give critics support for not admitting anymore refugees into South Korea:

Six migrant workers have been deported this year over allegations they supported international terrorist groups.

This followed a joint operation by South Korea’s top law enforcers.

Police, prosecutors, the national intelligence service and the justice ministry discovered evidence that the suspects endorsed the terrorist groups “beyond curiosity” and shared information about them with others.

The information came to light in a report revealed during the national anti-terror committee’s regular meeting at the Seoul Government Complex on Monday. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon presided over it.

Another report said a Syrian migrant worker was arrested in Incheon for inciting co-workers to join extreme Islamic terrorist group ISIS. The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency’s international criminal investigation bureau arrested the man, 33, for showing ISIS promotional video clips to the workers and encouraging them to join it. The authority sent his case to prosecutors early this month.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but a flood of Muslim refugees into Jeju Island from mostly Yemen has caused terrorism fears to grow in South Korea in recent months.

Yesterday’s terrorist attack in France is an example of the type of attack these ISIS terrorists could attempt in South Korea with the massive crowds that gather for events in places like Seoul.

The French Embassy in Seoul raises the national flag at half-staff on July 15, 2016, to pay tribute to victims of a deadly terrorist attack which killed at least 80 people and wounded dozens of others in the southern French city of Nice the previous day. (Yonhap)

It looks like ISIS wants to spread their war against the West all the way over to South Korea now:

The Islamic State jihadist group has designated U.S. Air Force installations here and South Korean citizens as targets for attacks, Seoul’s state spy agency said Sunday.

In a press release, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said that the group incited terrorist attacks against them through Telegram, a messaging service, and revealed location data of 77 Air Force installations of the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and of individuals in 21 countries.

The extremist group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), obtained the location data from its own hacking group, named the “United Cyber Caliphate,” the spy agency explained.

“While disseminating the location data of the installations and information on the individuals, (the group) incited (its sympathizers around the world) to retaliate for the benefit of Muslims,” the NIS said.

Through the messaging program, the IS unveiled the locations of U.S. Air Force units in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, and of one employee of a South Korean welfare organization.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link, but ISIS is a bunch of fools if they think the location of US military bases in South Korea is secret information.

I have always said that ISIS attracts the losers from the Muslim world; the ones who don’t have a real job or girlfriend and look to blame others for their situation in life.  Well it appears now the opposite phenomenon is happening.  Guys with no real job or girlfriend are now looking to make a name for themselves by fighting ISIS:

A 25-year-old man from China’s Sichuan Province has traveled to Syria to fight against ISIS after the relationship with his girlfriend stranded. He is the first Chinese citizen to join the fight against ISIS.

In September of this year, the Chinese man flew from Bangkok to Istanbul, and then traveled on to Syria. According to China Business News, he never told his family where he was going. He stated that he had no job in China, that his girlfriend had just ended their relationship, and that he wanted to do “something meaningful”.

The young man, who calls himself ‘Pan’, arrived in the border town of Ayn al-Arab in October, and joined the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from there as the first-ever Chinese citizen to fight against IS, China’s 21 News reported.

According to BBC China, who interviewed him, Pan does not speak English nor Arabic, and is only able to communicate with fellow fighters using an electronic dictionary. After breaking up with his girlfriend and having no official occupation in China, he felt he had to “something meaningful”, which, Pan stated, was to pick up arms and join the war.  [What’s On Weibo]

You can read the rest at the link.

Hopefully it does not come this, but it would be interesting to see what the reaction in South Korea would be to a Paris style ISIS terrorist attack?  Fortunately it would be logistically very difficult for ISIS to pull off such an attack with the limited access to guns in South Korea.  That is why if they did try an attack I would think an explosive or fire in a confined area with a lot of people is the route they would go:

The so-called Islamic State has once again included Korea on a list of potential targets of terror attacks.

In a video clip on Wednesday, Korea was included among 60 countries belonging to what ISIS calls a “global coalition” that also includes the U.S., Japan and France.

In September, Dabiq, ISIS’ glossy propaganda magazine, named Korea among 62 countries that are supposedly part of a new “crusader coalition” and targeted for potential terror attacks.

The latest list includes two new targets — Russia and China — that were for some reason not on the list earlier.  [Chosun Ilbo]

By the way I did notice that North Korea did not make the list.  I wonder if Kim Jong-un feels left out?

An illegal immigrant from Indonesia, a suspected follower of a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida, leaves a Seoul court on Nov. 20, 2015 after deliberations on his arrest warrant. The 32-year-old was detained on Nov. 18 on suspicions that he supports al-Nusra Front. Police confiscated a model of an M16 rifle and books on Islam fundamentalism from his home. The suspect uploaded on his SNS accounts photos of himself waving the flag of the terrorist group and wearing a cap with the group’s logo. (Photo captured from Yonhap News TV) (Yonhap)

It doesn’t sound like this Indonesian recently arrested in South Korea for ISIS ties was much of a threat, but it is good to see that authorities are taking threats seriously considering that ISIS has declared South Korea as part of the “Crusader Alliance” and eligible for terrorist attacks.  If anyone is wondering South Korea has reportedly had 200 Syrian refugees arrive at its airport.

The news that police are questioning an Indonesian national in Korea about his ties with a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida brought home the message that the country may not be completely safe from terrorist attacks.

According to the National Police Agency, the 32-year-old man arrested at his house in South Chungcheong Province on charges of violating immigration laws and forging documents, is suspected of supporting the Nusra Front, a Syrian branch of al-Qaida. The police found a model M16 rifle, a bowie knife and several books on Islamic fundamentalism at the man’s home.

The man, who entered the country on a forged passport in 2007, uploaded a video clip of himself waving a Nusra Front flag on Bukhansan Mountain on a social media site in April. Last month, he uploaded a picture of himself wearing a cap featuring the terrorist group’s logo standing in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace, the police said.

The recent National Intelligence Service report that about 10 people in Korea have publicly expressed support for the Islamic State and two Korean nationals attempting to join the IS have had their passports canceled is a cause for concern about potential terrorist activities in the country by Korean and foreign nationals alike. Also a reminder that the country needs to stay vigilant about potential terrorists entering country is the revelation that 48 people who were either affiliated with international terrorist groups or categorized as security risks have been arrested and deported since 2010.   [Korea Herald]

You can read the rest at the link.

The South Korean government has taken measures to increase security of French sites in South Korea after the deadly ISIS terror attack in Paris:

The South Korean government went on full alert on Saturday to stem any possible terrorist aggressions in the country following the deadly attacks in Paris that killed around 120 people.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held an emergency inter-governmental meeting to check the security of Korean nationals in France after the shootings, bombings and a hostage situation at a popular concert venue in the French capital on Friday (local time) reverberated around the world.

“We have to tighten border controls and security in key public facilities in case of an emergency in the country,” said Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn during the meeting.

The police increased police patrols around French facilities in South Korea, including its embassy and schools, in a way to prevent any possibilities of additional terrorist attacks in the country, with other foreign missions also on strict guard.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

#BREAKING President Hollande blames #IslamicState group for #ParisTerrorAttacks that killed at least 127 people pic.twitter.com/j2gxmnavCA

— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) November 14, 2015