SEOUL, June 8: Tens of thousands of police will be on high alert in South Korea’s capital Seoul and at the venue of Taegu on Monday to head off possible protests when the co-hosts play the United States.

Police announced the deployment on Saturday after students and workers unveiled plans for anti-US rallies in Seoul and in Taegu, the venue for Monday’s group D clash.

“Officers will be on high alert at major places where fans are likely to gather, including the Kwanghwamun district in central Seoul,” said Lee Hae-wang, a senior officer at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

“We will tighten security against any trouble or accidental incidents by emotional crowds, while trying to keep traffic flowing,” Lee said.

South Korea is co-hosting the World Cup with Japan.

There are 37,000 US troops based in South Korea to ward off attack from the North. Students and teenagers tend to have a more critical view of that presence than parents and grandparents who witnessed the US role in the 1950-53 Korean war and afterwards.

Civic groups and unions have announced plans to stage a funeral ceremony at Kwangwhamun on Monday for a worker who recently died in an incident involving high-voltage wire at a US base at Paju, 50 km (20 miles) north of Seoul.

“The ceremony will take place in front of the US embassy and after that workers and students will march in the streets,” said Lee Seung-hun, an official at the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

Lee said more than 200,000 people were expected to flock back to the business district on Monday to watch the game against the United States, who won their first game 3-2 against Portugal.

Local newspapers said officials planned to erect extra giant television screens at a plaza outside city hall, further away from the US embassy, to try to dilute the crowds.

The US embassy said on Friday it would close at noon on Monday to allow its staff to watch the match.

Security in Taegu is also tight. President Kim Dae-jung, who watched the victory over Poland, would not attend the match against the United States, his office said.

The US team has the toughest security of any of the 16 teams playing South Korea — a post-September 11 precaution more than a defence against anti-U.S. protests by South Koreans.

But police are taking no chances.

“About 4,000 officers will be patrolling inside and outside the Taegu stadium,” said Lee Sung-ho, a spokesman at Taegu’s Metropolitan City Police.

“An additional 25 squads consisting of 3,000 highly trained policemen will be dispatched in support as well,” he said.

Anti-US sentiment in South Korea was fanned when Kim Dong-sung, a South Korean short track speedskater, was disqualified for impeding U.S. skater Apolo Anton Ohno in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

The disqualification outraged many Koreans and the U.S. skater even got e-mail death threats.

Local media reported on Saturday that “Red Devils”, South Korean supporters, plan to sport plastic bowls on their heads at the US match — similar in shape to speedskating helmets — with the slogan “Give us our gold medal” written on them.

The match scheduled on Monday is vital for each side as they vie for a place in the second round and shake off disappointing campaigns in the 1998 finals in France.

Cloudy skies are likely but no rain is expected during Monday’s match with a temperature a muggy 31 Celsius (89 Fahrenheit), the Korean Meteorological Agency said.

The US troops help a 600,000-strong South Korean military force safeguard a 1953 truce with North Korea that in the absence of a peace treaty has left the two Koreas technically at war.

North Korea has about one million men in its armed forces, many forward deployed near the Demilitarised Zone border.—Reuters