Is South Korea Safe? An American Expat Weighs In

“You’re moving to South Korea? As in North Korea’s neighbor? Isn’t South Korea dangerous? What will you do if North Korea attacks? Don’t you watch the news? South Korea is not safe.” These were only a handful of responses I received when I told people I was moving to South Korea.

And I get it. I wasn’t completely sold on living in South Korea when I first arrived. After all, in February of 2018, when I arrived in my new home, Donald Trump was back home bragging about the size of his ‘big red button’.

Even so, I had done my research, and decided that overall South Korea was a very safe country. Now I’ve lived in the country for almost a full year, and thought I would share my opinion on the matter.

Of course, I must first disclose that I am in no way qualified to make a completely educated statement about things like the political culture between North Korea and South Korea. I do, however, read BBC News quite often in an attempt to keep up with current affairs. Therefore, please keep that in mind along the way – I am simply providing my own personal take on the safety in South Korea as I have experienced it.

North Korea

In terms of the ongoing tension with North Korea, it may be the most peaceful the peninsula has been in years. Back in April, South and North Korea agreed to remove all nuclear weapons from the peninsula. They also had hopeful talks about declaring an official end to the Korean War.

In June, the US met with North Korea at a summit in Singapore. Here, the US also agreed to work towards denuclearization of the peninsula. While this entire summit was a giant step in the right direction, not much has changed in terms of the relationship between North Korea and America since then. The US maintains “it will never allow an agreement to formally end the Korean war, nor will it lift economic sanctions imposed upon the North, while the Kim administration poses a nuclear threat.”

As you can see, it’s actually the best time to be living in South Korea in terms of its relationship with the North. However, even before these positive outcomes came to be, the people in South Korea never seemed fussed with their neighbors. North Korea has never been a topic of conversation with any of my Korean friends.

And not because it’s a controversial one. Simply because the tension between both countries has been present for years. And most of the threats from the North are empty ones. Therefore, South Korea and its residents refuse to waste energy worrying about North Korea.

Crime in South Korea

Last year I lived in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I witnessed one drive by shooting and slept through another. I always took an Uber home after a certain hour, and used caution before opening the door to my apartment complex. In Brooklyn, I had to be extremely aware of my safety, and some of those precautions followed me to Korea.

South Korea has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Personally, I haven’t been victim of, nor been witness to, any crimes while living in South Korea. The only exception to this is when I’m denied taxi service, which actually happens more often than you would think. The Korean government has actually had to crack down on punishing drivers who refuse to pick up foreigners since it’s become such an issue.

Petty theft is, of course, still an issue anywhere you go. Certain crimes happen in every country, so you should always be cautious. That being said, South Korea is the one place I wouldn’t mind losing my possessions.

I’ve left important documents on a bus in South Korea, only to have them returned to me when the bus made it’s second round to my bus stop. Multiple friends have lost their phones in South Korea, and had them returned within a few days. Koreans are truly honorable individuals, and refuse to claim something that doesn’t belong to them. Plus, they go out of their way to help you get it back.

When I go anywhere alone, I never worry about leaving my phone, laptop, or wallet unattended. I am certain they will be there when I return. And I’m happy to report, I have yet to say otherwise.

General Safety as a Woman in Korea

As a woman, I am generally more alert when it comes to my personal safety. Unfortunately, I have to be. I don’t say this to cause any kind of debate, or ruffle anyone’s feathers. But as women, we have to be more cautious than our male counterparts.

You can join any women’s group on Facebook to read horror stories that some expats in Korea have had to deal with. I usually avoid reading them, because it’s easy to make generalizations after hearing only a handful of negative experiences. That being said, things like sexual assult do still happen in Korea.

Of course it’s going to depend on your own individual circumstance, but I personally don’t always feel safe as a woman in South Korea. Walking alone after dark still makes my hair stand on edge and my heart beat faster than normal. Drunk men are still drunk men in every country. And it doesn’t help when they ask if you are Russian {apparently Russian prostitutes are common in Korea, or used to be}.

Creepy men sit right next to me on a nearly empty bus, and take my picture without my permission. This has happened multiple times where I have had to physically remove myself from the situation and move seats. It should be noted that more often than not, they are other foreigners from surrounding countries, and not Korean. Either way, it’s extremely uncomfortable.

All that being said, I’ve never been accosted, or in any real trouble living here. More often than not, I am treated with respect and generally feel safe in South Korea.

Overall, I think South Korea is a safe country. I feel safer in South Korea than I do any country in Southeast Asia. That being said, I would still advise you use the same general amount of caution as you would back home in the states. Over to you, have you lived in South Korea? Do you feel it’s a safe place to live? Have you had any negative experiences in South Korea that made you feel otherwise?