Photo source: JoongAng Ilbo Japanese Edition

Starting from the 5th, passengers departing overseas through Incheon Airport must remove their shoes during the security screening process.

Previously, passengers were only asked to remove their shoes if they were deemed "suspicious," but from the 5th, anyone wearing shoes with heels 3.5 centimeters or higher must remove them for security screening without exception.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Incheon International Airport Corporation, they announced that starting from the 5th, they would strengthen shoe inspections for passengers departing through Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 at Incheon Airport who pass through the cylindrical security scanners.

The cylindrical security scanner is a millimeter-wave scanner known to be harmless to the human body. It converts the passenger's body image into an avatar format, which is displayed briefly.

The cylindrical scanners were first introduced at Incheon Airport's Terminal 2 in 2017, and there are currently 41 in operation. This accounts for 70% of all security scanners (58 total) at Incheon Airport. The remaining 17 are gate-style scanners. A key advantage of the cylindrical scanner is that the screening time per passenger is short, averaging under 25 seconds.

However, concerns have been raised by the National Intelligence Service and the police that "the screening capability for the area below the ankles is inferior."

This means that it is not easy for the cylindrical scanner to detect drugs or ceramic weapons hidden in shoe soles or heels. The strengthening of shoe security screening was implemented to address these concerns.

Specifically, starting from the 5th, when passing through a cylindrical scanner at Incheon Airport, if you are wearing shoes with heels of 3.5 centimeters or higher or hiking boots, you must remove them. Platform slippers are also subject to screening. Winter boots and rain boots must also be removed.

However, low-heeled shoes, sneakers, and rubber slippers are exempt from this screening.

For general gate-style screening equipment that is not a cylindrical scanner, passengers will continue to pass through while wearing their shoes as they do now. In addition to South Korea, countries such as the United States, Thailand, and Vietnam also conduct shoe security screenings. Germany and Singapore conduct selective screenings limited to shoes with high heels.

An official from Incheon International Airport Corporation stated, "We plan to analyze the number of shoe screenings conducted at all departure gates between 7:00 and 9:00 AM on the 5th, the first day of implementation, to improve passenger convenience in the future."

Article source: ©JoongAng Ilbo Japanese Edition

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.