It appears that Ambassador Harris is going to need to start packing a gun to protect himself after reading this article:
Habib House is the U.S. ambassador’s residence in downtown Seoul. Yonhap
What if it had been a terrorist?
That must be what crossed the mind of U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris.
About 10 p.m. on Sept. 3, an intruder was caught prowling Habib House, the U.S. ambassador’s residence in downtown Seoul.
It is said Harris is not happy with the intrusion and the lack of adequate follow-up measures by Korean police.
The intruder proved to be a Korean-Chinese woman who arrived in Korea two days before the break-in.
When discovered in the house, she was reportedly speaking incoherently and making an unfounded claim that she was a relative of former President Lee Myung-bak, now in jail and being tried for corruption while in office, among other things.
It couldn’t be confirmed whether the ambassador was at home when the intrusion happened. But he is said to be upset about what could have happened if the woman was an IS terrorist trained to harm him.
He is said to be dissatisfied with the Korean police response, not even offering written assurances promising no repetition of a similar incident.
The Namdaemun police station, which is handling the case, told The Korea Times that the suspect was released 48 hours after the incident and it was no big deal.
“Breaking in and entering is not a serious crime,” a police officer said. “By law we could hold the woman for 48 hours. So we released her.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but based on the police response to this incident, any crazy leftist could break into the US ambassador’s house to launch a protest against the Trump administration’s North Korea policies with no consequences.
What makes this matter even worse is that the prior US ambassador Mark Lippert was brutally knifed in the face by inadequate Korean security.
This story is completely disturbing and could be a resigning issue for the ambassador given the repeat security failures of the South Koreans. I am personally offended by the ROK government’s blithe response to the serious offense of a home invasion and their failure to uphold their treaty obligations to secure or diplomats and diplomatic facilities. It seems there is now a giant welcome mat for spies, leftist agitators, and crazies to break right into the residences of US diplomats and soldiers. Imagine how the stories would have played out if Harris and should the home intruder in self defense as commonly happens in America.
J6Junkie
5 years ago
Probably one of Fatty’s spies testing the defences.
guitard
5 years ago
So a woman … who supposedly just arrived in Korea two days prior and appears to be mentally unstable … was able to easily infiltrate the ambassador’s residence? If the facts presented are true … then we’re not talking about a well-trained agent/spy who operated with the benefit of sophisticated pre-planning, a support team, and reconnaissance …
This is just crazy …
I know everyone likes to talk about how safe Korea is … but that sense of “don’t worry, it’s super safe here” leads to a really bad case of complacency on the part of those providing security and results in events like this.
setnaffa
5 years ago
What are you foks talking about? The Ambassador’s house is as well protected as if they had the whole Broward County Sheriff’s Department there.
Oh. Wait. Nevermind.
Mcgeehee
5 years ago
He’s better off living in City Park. Much more secure — no one will just walk in on you there.
This story is completely disturbing and could be a resigning issue for the ambassador given the repeat security failures of the South Koreans. I am personally offended by the ROK government’s blithe response to the serious offense of a home invasion and their failure to uphold their treaty obligations to secure or diplomats and diplomatic facilities. It seems there is now a giant welcome mat for spies, leftist agitators, and crazies to break right into the residences of US diplomats and soldiers. Imagine how the stories would have played out if Harris and should the home intruder in self defense as commonly happens in America.
Probably one of Fatty’s spies testing the defences.
So a woman … who supposedly just arrived in Korea two days prior and appears to be mentally unstable … was able to easily infiltrate the ambassador’s residence? If the facts presented are true … then we’re not talking about a well-trained agent/spy who operated with the benefit of sophisticated pre-planning, a support team, and reconnaissance …
This is just crazy …
I know everyone likes to talk about how safe Korea is … but that sense of “don’t worry, it’s super safe here” leads to a really bad case of complacency on the part of those providing security and results in events like this.
What are you foks talking about? The Ambassador’s house is as well protected as if they had the whole Broward County Sheriff’s Department there.
Oh. Wait. Nevermind.
He’s better off living in City Park. Much more secure — no one will just walk in on you there.
Better off living on post.