I experienced similar in Seoul in 2008. Except my shoes had to come off once they saw I had a UA BP. Non US flagged or bound flights had to remove their shoes.

Now let me tell you how a former communist country did it. You know, one that only gained it's freedom barely 20 years ago: the Czech Republic.

Flew out of Prague last Saturday, early in the morning. Here was my security check (intra-EU).

Cursory passport check (matched names on BP and passport, looked at me, gave it back). Total time: 5 seconds.

Go to security. Laptop out. Everything else thru in bins. Shoes on. Total time: 2 minutes.

The EU has liquid restrictions, but I checked everything so it didn't hit me. Still, given how chill they were about it, I doubt there would have been a huge issue.

MUC after the German bomb attempt this week:

No ID check. All the LH person cared about was seeing I was a *G so I could get into the elite line.

Same deal as Prague pretty much. Only thing they had me do differently on Saturday (after the incident) than Wednesday (before): they asked me to power on my camcorder. Did wonder what they would have done if the battery was dead though. German police had machine guns. Otherwise, no change between Wednesday and Saturday.

At FRA to board a UA flight: didn't have to go thru security again. Last time I went thru FRA in 2005, I went thru German security and then went thru security AGAIN in the sterile area prior to getting to the UA gates. Got the full shoe carnival and had my junk felt up. This time around: went right to my gate from the German domestic side. No "reclearing" of security again. I had to answer a few questions which reminded me of the stupid ones they asked you in the 90s, and UA printed me a new BP. While the questions were stupid and I don't see how they really contributed anything to security, the whole process in the EU post incident was significantly better than anything I experienced in the US in recent years.

I think the Europeans have more respect for freedom these days, especially in countries that didn't have it for so long.