Go to contents

A special police squad prepares for PyeongChang Olympics

A special police squad prepares for PyeongChang Olympics

Posted December. 15, 2017 07:57,   

Updated December. 15, 2017 08:53

한국어

Amid the cold temperatures of midwinter, there was an anti-terrorism exercise Tuesday at PyeongChang Olympic Plaza, where the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games will be held.

During the exercise on the day, which involved the police, military, fire department and five other organizations, counter-terrorism agents prepared against vehicle and drone attacks and conducted mock exercises on explosives disposal and hostage situation.

Among the participants was a police officer of North Gyeonggi Province Special Police Squad. He is having a strong sense of responsibility and pride to contribute to the success of the Olympic Games being held in the neighboring county of his hometown Gangneung. He is also a fan of winter sports who loves to ski and snowboard.

Born and raised in Gangneung, he never left his hometown except when he served military duty. He started working as a police officer in Gangneung Police Office since April 2015. In May this year, he applied for North Gyeonggi Province Special Police Squad and got accepted. Although he knew that the job would be hard and tough, it was the job he had been yearning for because he was attracted by the fact that the squad will be responsible for counter-terrorism duty for the upcoming Olympic Games.

The special police squad is a team composed of the most elite agents with strong stamina and martial arts skills. The competition was fierce with 1.91 applicants applying for one post. The police officer hailed from Gangneung was chosen among 27 final candidates thanks to his strong stamina and a second-dan grade in judo.

Upon finishing a 4-week basic training, he and his fellow members successfully completed anti-terrorism exercises, including helicopter rope suspension, repelling and martial arts. For the first time they simulated actual terrorist attacks Tuesday in Olympic facilities to test emergency and defense response. The hard training paid off as they were able to show their ability.

After undertaking a few more exercises before the Olympics, he will be sent to Pyeongchang in January next year. He will have to stay vigilant every moment and will not be able to let his guard down all the time, but he says he is happy to contribute to the success of the Olympics.

He was born in 1988, the year when the Seoul Olympic Games was held in Korea. He will be responsible for people’s safety during the Olympic Games that will be held in Korea once again in 30 years. After the PyeongChang Olympic Games, he will work as an anti-terrorism officer in northern Gyeonggi and Gangwon regions.



In-Mo Lee imlee@donga.com