Nov. 2 (UPI) -- South Korea police are to restrict the number of anti-Trump rallies in Seoul near the presidential Blue House during the U.S. president's first visit to the country.
Police have issued a ban and "restriction notice" that applies to anti-American civic groups that were planning to march to South Korean President Moon Jae-in's office in central Seoul, local news service EDaily reported Thursday.
President Donald Trump is expected to spend the night at the Blue House on Tuesday.
According to police, anti-America rallies near the area are strictly prohibited during Trump's stay. Seoul also plans to designate the area that extends from the U.S. Embassy to Moon's residence as a secured area with limited access to the public.
Related
On Wednesday, ahead of Trump's visit, members of a local organization gathered in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul to protest the U.S. president and his "warmongering" rhetoric, his promotion of U.S. arms sales to key allies and increased pressure to renegotiate a bilateral trade deal, known as the KORUS FTA.
Tensions escalated on the peninsula in August, when Trump threatened "fire and fury" against North Korea, and Pyongyang subsequently claimed it could create an "enveloping fire" around the U.S. territory of Guam.
Some anti-Trump rallies are to be permitted in areas outside the designated boundaries, and police said there would also be a pro-Trump gathering, welcoming the U.S. president with Korean flags.
Trump will be the first U.S. president in 25 years to conduct a "state visit," and a South Korean ministerial-level diplomat is to greet Trump when he descends from Air Force One.
During former President Barack Obama's "official" visit to Seoul in 2014, a lower level deputy minister met him at on the tarmac upon his arrival. The "official" visit {link:demands less protocol. : "http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/diplomatic-relations/differentiating-visits/" target="_blank"} A South Korean security official told Yonhap authorities are "providing the highest level of security for President Trump."
Seoul is also bracing for discussions on the free trade deal between the two countries.
South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-jong has requested a three-fold increase in the number of trade negotiators and experts, in preparation for a potential revision to the trade deal, local newspaper Maeil Business reported Thursday.
