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Incheon Airport to require certain shoes removed at security checkpoint

Published: 05 Dec. 2024, 13:29 Updated: 06 Dec. 2024, 09:12

Staffs watch as a passenger undergoes body scanner at Incheon International Airport. [INCHEON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT]

Passengers traveling overseas through Incheon International Airport will be required to remove their shoes at the security checkpoint starting Thursday.

This applies to anyone wearing shoes with a heel of 3.5 centimeters (1.18 inches) or more.

The change comes as Incheon International Airport Corporation and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on Thursday that shoe screening will be strengthened for passengers using the circular body scanners at the airport’s Terminals 1 and 2. Previously, only passengers deemed to be "suspicious" were asked to remove their shoes.

The circular-shaped body scanner is an ultra-high-frequency system considered harmless to the human body. It generates a brief avatar-style image of the passenger's body. First introduced at Incheon airport’s Terminal 2 in 2017, 41 of these machines are currently in use. This accounts for 70 percent of the 58 body scanners at the airport, with the remaining 17 being metal detectors.

The advantage of the circular scanner is that it takes less than 25 seconds to screen each passenger. However, concerns have been raised by the National Intelligence Service and the police authorities that the system is less effective at detecting items hidden below the ankle, creating potential threats, such as drugs or ceramic weapons concealed in the soles or heels of shoes.

Specifically, passengers will be required to remove shoes with heels of 3.5 centimeters or more, including hiking boots, flip-flops with soles and winter boots, when using the circular scanners. However, low-heeled shoes, sneakers and rubber slippers will not be subject to this requirement. Passengers can keep their shoes on if passing through a metal detector.

Other countries, including the United States, Thailand and Vietnam, also implement shoe security checks, while in Germany and Singapore, only high-heeled shoes are screened.

“We will analyze the number of shoe searches conducted at all departure gates between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. on the first day of implementation on Thursday and work to minimize passenger inconvenience in the future,” said an official from Incheon International Airport Corporation.

BY WOO JI-WON [[email protected]]