Teaching in Korea: Safety

One of the questions I get often about teaching in South Korea is, How safe is it?

While there certainly is crime in every corner of the world, I do have to say that life in Korea is remarkably safe. Now, Im not sure why this is the case, but it may have to do with the sense of family that exudes from each person I meet. It may also stem from the ever presence of CCTV cameras on the streets, buildings, and classrooms. It may even stem from the harsh prison sentences that can be handed out as well.

Here are a few of my experiences with the lack of crime in Korea:

1) Last year, we were showing a new teacher a night out on the town and were visiting a pub. After a few pitchers of beer and soju, we left. What we didnt realize until an hour later, is that she left her bag at the pub complete with $2000 laptop inside. We quickly went back to the pub, only to find that the owners had taken the bag inside and were holding it safe for our return.

2) A friend had recently purchased a new Canon DSLR and left it on a bench on a subway station. Later that night, he was able to retrieve the camera.

3) While I was moving from the old officetel to this one, I inadvertently left my front door open for two hours with my computer and cameras in plain view. When I returned, nothing was touched.

Its stories like these that blow my mind, since Its been a good 30 years since anything like thats been prevalent in a community Ive lived in.

However, Korea isnt crime free. In some areas, there is still resentment towards foreigners. In fact, a powerful net group continues to spread rumors about foreigners calling them rapists, drug dealers, and responsible for bringing AIDS to Korea. Its an unsubstantiated set of rumors, yet the government does little to dispel them.

Recently, there was a brutal attack on a female English teacher. She was pulled into a limo by four Korean men who attempted to rape her. She fought back violently and was beaten until she was tossed out of the car. The police and English teachers in Korea are working together to bring these lowlifes to justice, but so far they havent been found.

Even with this disturbing tale of violence, I still feel safer here than anywhere else on the planet. Im greeted with smiles and people are always ready to help me when I needed. The best thing to keep in mind is that ones overall safety is impacted by the choices we make on a daily basis. If we make poor choices, bad things can happen.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• QiRanger
• Dongtan
• South
• Korea
• Safety
• Crime
• Education

[Moopies]

as I was watching i was wondering about a female perspective, Do you have any foreign female friends or associates? if so Do they Feel safe?

great video, thanks for sharing!

[qiranger]

Most do feel safe here. It still isn't an excuse to not think about personal safety. Bad things do happen, but nearly as often as they did back in the US.

[StarAWings]

@StarAWings to get in and stole teh money for my aunt her tomb stone and funeral (he used to keep his savings in an old sock underneath his matrass) and that was a distant cousin.

so yeah, we do have crime here but I've always felt safe. I can leave my house for a couple of hours and not lock the door without worrying. I think it also has to do with taht fact that teh neighbourhood where I live is quite close, we all know eachother, look after eachother's stuff while on holiday.

[StarAWings]

@StarAWings I live next to the German/Dutch border and a motorway bikes and trailers get stolen quite a lote, it's easy to take them, get on the motorway and drive in one go to, lets say Poland. I also know of a family friend whose cleaning lady went and left a window open so she could sneak in, hide in the attic and during the time the elderly people were gone she searched the house and took money and jewelry. My uncle also had this happen, he locked everything but a kid went and used a crowbar

[StarAWings]

In the Netherlands there is some crime but thankfully where I live (nothern part) there is relatively little theft, I had my bike stolen once and my cellphone... My brother's bike got stolen but was returned because the person who took it was drunk and took teh wrong bike (hey it happens!) and his cell was stolen once... there has been a break-in in my house, but they caught the guy even before we knew it happend! But I do know other people who had different experiences.

[DOTQWERTY218]

theft does happen though. I left my hat on the bench for 7 minutes and came back and it was gone. My friend bought a new bike and took it too school locked it up and it was stolen in one day. So, it does happen so still be cautious about your items.

[ImIwilliamImI]

@DemenzaTuts

Her i Norge så begås mesteparten av kriminaliteten fra utlendinger, durkere blandt annet.. typisk.

[DemenzaTuts]

Denmark isn't that sweet. That people actually say it is. In Copenhagen. (Our capital.) We have gangs there are fighting at the moment. It seems that it has been calm for awhile though. But i got my doubts.

But yeah. I think there are calm, and pretty safe. For the most part... Atleast from outsite the capital. Seems like a nice place though... (Korea.) Always wondered how it is. Well, i will subscribe and find out. :P

[mbwbg91]

Nice~

[reallysecretusername]

Qiranger, please do a video regarding racism in Korea.