S. Korea's PM Calls for Collective Effort to Counter Emerging Terror Threats

SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said Friday no single government agency can cope with terror threats alone at a time when new types of threats continue to emerge, as he called for civil and regional societies to work together with the government to build a systematic response system. "Unlike in the past, complex threats are emerging not only in the international community, but also in our society as well," Kim said during a meeting of the task force on overhauling the way the government handles terror threats, citing the spread of extremism online, crimes with abnormal motives targeting many unspecified people and threats using new technologies, such as drones. "In order to deal effectively with these threats, it is very important to build an organic response system that involves cooperation between related agencies, but also civil and regional societies because there are limitations to any single agency's efforts," he said. Preventive measures are as important as coping with the aftermath of terrorism, Kim said, stressing the importance of early detection of danger signals, information sharing and educational training, while instructing the task force to update related regulations and manuals to suit reality.