S. Korea's customs office to tighten security for nuclear summit

SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's customs office said Thursday it will beef up efforts to tighten security at the nation's main gateways in a bid to guarantee the safe hosting of a large-scale global nuclear security meeting to be held here next month. South Korea will host the Nuclear Security Summit on March 26-27 in Seoul. It is expected to bring leaders and other ranking officials from more than 50 nations and global organizations to the capital. The Korea Customs Service said it will place radiation-detection equipment and other state-of-the-art devices at major airports and harbors to prevent any hazardous materials from coming into the country. The agency will also deploy additional personnel at those major gateways to ensure a "safe" and "swift" customs-clearing process for participants in the nuclear summit, while attempting to minimize any inconvenience for other travelers before and during the summit period. (END