Incheon Airport promises preventative measures over excessive celebrity security measures

Actor Byun Woo-seok [NEWS1]

Incheon International Airport has promised to take preventative measures against excessive security measures for celebrities at the airport, following the backlash sparked by actor Byun Woo-suk's private security team last week.

“This is the first time such an incident has occurred since the airport opened, and we could not have foreseen it or taken any measures,” Incheon International Airport Corporation president Lee Hag-jae said at a general meeting of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on Wednesday.

Byun's private security company was criticized for “excessive security” when he departed from Incheon airport for Hong Kong on Friday for his “Summer Letter” Asian fan meeting tour. Guards blocked the gate, flashed lights at passengers in the airport lounge and arbitrarily checked the tickets and passports of some passengers.

A representative for the security company said at the time that the gate closures and ticket inspections were “done in cooperation with airport security and were not an independent decision or action.”

The airport operator partially denied the security team's claims, saying that for safety reasons it sometimes controls one of the 14 bus drop-off gates at Terminal 1 when there is a risk of congestion, but that it had not been consulted in advance about arbitrary passport and ticket checks.

Incheon International Airport Corporation President Lee Ha-jae responds to questions at a general meeting of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Committee on July 17. [NEWS1]

However, the controversial “excessive security” occurred in Terminal 2. Incheon Airport updated its response on Monday afternoon, three days after the incident, to say it did not cooperate with security companies regarding the gate closure. Local media reports speculate that the airport did not know where the incident occurred until it released its latest response.

Airports, along with public institutions, ports, and major industrial facilities, are designated as “nationally important facilities” in Article 2, Chapter 1 of the Allied Defense Act.

In response to a question from a representative of the National Assembly whether the airport had consulted in advance with the private security company, Lee said that the private security company had consulted with the police, not Incheon Airport, and that “the airport also received a report from the police.”

“Hundreds of celebrities [overseas through Incheon Airport] “We have never had a case in our entire year where a private security company overreacted and acted inappropriately,” Lee said. “We will take this incident as an opportunity to take measures.”

“This was an illegal act and an absurd situation, and we are responsible for not discovering it,” Lee said. “It needs to be reinvestigated.” [the exact time the gate was blocked]”It is clear that there was tampering. We will take strict disciplinary action against those responsible. We will also take measures to prevent recurrence.”

“We will work with police to draw up rules for the conduct of private security companies at airports and find ways to strengthen penalties for problematic behaviour,” Lee said.

The Incheon Airport Corporation is considering filing a lawsuit against Byeon's private security company. The corporation is examining whether the actions of the security company, such as closing off the entrances and checking airline tickets, constitute abuse of power or coercive acts. If so, it plans to take legal action.

Incheon Airport Police are investigating three security guards from Byun's private security company on suspicion of assault, coercion and obstruction of business.

Kim Min Young [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]