Busan may seem like a relatively safe city in many respects, but according to recent statistics, it is actually the least safe metropolitan area in the country.
In the regional safety index by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, Busan finished worst of the nation’s eight largest special and metropolitan cities.
Last year, a total of 34,537 crimes took place in Busan which was a decrease of 1,800, but it is still considered the crime capital of Korea.
Busan also led the nation in suicides with 921 though that number also fell from 2020 when there were 1,020.
In the life safety sector, the number of emergency cases rose over 1,200 from the year previous with 8,445 cases.
The local safety index, which quantifies the safety level of cities by grade, Busan scored worst in crime and suicide at Grade 5 while fire, living safety, and infectious diseases ranked at Grade 3 and traffic accidents ranked at Grade 2.
Grade 1 is the lowest grade on the scale.
The city plans to establish a comprehensive plan to improve the regional safety index by implementing plans for 2022, including holding the first Citizen Safety Special Meeting in 2022 with the mayor, heads of districts, and experts on the 24th of this month.
