Here’s How Safe Korea Actually Is According To Female Foreigners
Traveling to a foreign country can be a daunting experience for anyone, but it can be even more challenging for female travelers, as they often worry about their safety, especially when they’re alone.
Here’s what female foreigners had to say about safety in South Korea.
“Your day to day life in Korea is really, really safe.”
Jasmine T TV heard good things about Korea’s safety prior to visiting. After spending time in the country, she agreed that Korea is a safe place to be. For Jasmine, theft isn’t a concern. She claims that if you were to leave your backpack on the subway, it would still be there when you came back for it. If you were to drop your money, a stranger would chase you down to to return it.
However, she warns viewers never to completely let their guard down. Like many other places in the world, Korea is not nearly as safe late at night during the weekend when a lot of drinking occurs. She calls the drinking culture “intense”.
She witnessed some women running into problems with “creepers” at clubs who did not want to take no for an answer. Clubs are staffed with security personnel who watch the dance floor, but sometimes “creepers” will try to follow women after they leave the clubs. This is why Jasmine advises women to be completely aware of their surroundings inside and outside of Korean clubs (and clubs in general!).
See Jasmine’s vlog here:
“For the most part, it’s pretty safe.”
Vlogger whitneybaeIRL also says that Korea is safe, even at night. In her vlog, she and her friend enjoyed a late night trip to a Korean park without fear. She often walks around at night and in the early hours of the morning alone, which is something she would not do in a city like Chicago.
Part of the reason why she feels safe is due to the number of CCTVs (public security cameras) located throughout Korea.
Like Jasmine, Whitney said theft is not usually an issue she has to worry about. At a Jazz Festival in Seoul, Whitney says that many women left their purses in a pile in order to go and dance. She claims that she would never feel safe doing so in America.
See her video here:
“There’s almost never any fights.”
Ida, a native of Sweden, also vouches for Korea’s lack of theft. She says that many people leave their cars running. She never sees this in Sweden or anywhere else she has been.
She also said that although there are so many people in Korea, she has rarely seen fights break out among drunk people. Ida has not had any negative experiences that would have caused her to feel unsafe.
However, Ida does warn about drivers who do not follow traffic laws. She is very careful when crossing the street, due to this.
“In Korea, I have been cornered on the subway.”
SeoulBot’s experiences in Korea have, unfortunately, not been as positive. She mentioned that she has had men corner her on the subway and follow her home. She says one man swore at her on the subway because she did not want to talk to him.
Many of these negative encounters happened with Korean strangers who specifically sought her out because she is an English-speaking foreigner. One man who “insisted” on speaking with her followed her until she nearly considered hiding out in a cafe.
Here SeoulBot’s full experience here:
All in all, according to these female foreigners, Korea is relatively safe but not a utopia.
Every tourist will come home from Korea with a different story to tell, and hopefully, for the most part, they will be good stories! Foreigners will have plenty of fun navigating Korea but should be just as cautious as they would be in their home cities.
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