By Kim Se-jeong



Fifty-six foreigners have been expelled from Korea over the past five years for allegedly having connections to global terrorist organizations, a ruling party lawmaker said Wednesday.



Citing data he obtained from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the ruling Saenuri Party said the 56 from nine countries were sent home between 2009 and July this year, after they were found to have been in touch with organizations including al-Qaida and Hezbollah.



Sixteen of the deportees had Bangladeshi passports, and the rest were from other Muslim countries including Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan.



"Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, major countries have passed new laws on handling terrorists and preventing attacks," Lee wrote in a press release. "In Korea, however, what we have is only a presidential directive. We need to be prepared for a possible terrorist attack."



The lawmaker called on the Korean government to pass stronger anti-terrorist legislation here.



Lim Dae-sung, one of Lee's aides said the supposed terrorists were "mostly home-grown."



"When they entered Korea, they were harmless," Lim said. "Later, the intelligence service found they were in contact with terrorist groups."



The NIS could not be reached for comment.



Rep. Lee's office also revealed, during the same period, 33 "wanted terrorists" had visited Korea.



"All 33 were on the wanted lists in different parts of the world," Lim said. "Some visited more than once."



Whether they are still in Korea is not known.



"For security reasons, the NIS refused to share the details of their whereabouts," Lim said.



The 33 people on wanted lists are separate from the 56 who were expelled. Of the people branded "wanted terrorists," 12 were from Bangladesh.



The Bangladeshi Embassy in Seoul said, "The NIS has not shared any information with the embassy."



The report raises a question on whether Korea will be safe from terrorist attacks.



Korean nationals have been targeted abroad, but there have been no bomb explosions inside Korea.



Experts say that this is changing as people begin to understand the strong U.S. presence in Korea.



According to the NIS statistics, 10 Koreans were killed and 38 injured in attacks targeting Koreans abroad between 2009 and early this year. Businessmen were the most common target with 44 cases, followed by sailors, soldiers and travelers.



Meanwhile, Lee's office said 5,574 foreigners had been arrested in Korea in connection with organized crime activities over the last five years.



They were involved in 654 types of illegal crimes. Drug smuggling was the most common, with 163 cases. In April, the authorities apprehended two South African gang members who were attempting to smuggle methamphetamine worth 3 billion won ($ 2.9 million). In March, four drug smugglers from Japan were apprehended.



