South Korea will play its upcoming World Cup qualifier in Lebanon as scheduled, despite lingering security concerns in the Middle Eastern country, the South Korean football governing body said.

The Korea Football Association said South Korea will face Lebanon in Beirut on Tuesday as scheduled in the final round of the Asian qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Earlier, the KFA had said Chung Mong-gyu, the KFA chief, was in talks with FIFA officials over “ensuring security” during the South Korean team’s stay in Lebanon. 

Chung is attending the FIFA Congress in Mauritius.

In a statement, the KFA said FIFA decided to keep the match in Lebanon and offered to provide security measures for both South Korea and Lebanon.

The KFA also said FIFA asked the Lebanese Football Association to submit detailed plans to guarantee security for the South Korean team and its delegation during the visitors’ stay.

The South Korean team is currently training in Dubai and is set to fly to Lebanon over the weekend.

The deteriorating security situation in Lebanon has been tied to the civil war in neighboring Syria. Bombs launched across the border have killed several people in Lebanese border villages.

The involvement of the Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group, in the Syrian war has led to concerns that the conflict might escalate.

Against that backdrop, a foreign ministry official said the ministry asked the KFA not to send a group of supporters, collectively called the “Red Devils,” to Lebanon and to keep the size of the KFA delegation to a minimum.

Later in the day, the KFA responded that it decided not to fly the “Red Devils” to Lebanon and added only a select number of officials would make the trip to the Middle East.

On Thursday, the KFA said about 120 members of the “Red Devils” would join KFA officials on a chartered flight to Lebanon. The foreign ministry, after discussions with the KFA, had agreed to allow the fans to travel and to provide security. (Yonhap News)