How Safe Is My Living Area?

What kind of crime is most likely to happen in my neighborhood? Is the frequency of crimes in my area higher compared with other areas?

Dong-A Ilbo used an analytic method of displaying all three major crimes—murder, rape, and robbery—on the map for the first time in order to satisfy one’s curiosity on this subject.

According to the result, the Gangnam area in Seoul is the place where major crimes occurred the most this year. In particular, areas near the crossroads of the Gangnam subway station turned out to the place with the highest frequency.

As for the crime rate per 100,000 persons, Seoul had the highest rate. Meanwhile, Daejeon and Gwangju City, where the population is relatively lower than Seoul, also placed high.

In order to analyze crime data in-depth, Dong-A Ilbo exclusively obtained a report titled “Major crimes nationwide from January through July 2004,” which was submitted to the National Assembly by the National Policy Agency.

Also, in cooperation with Sundosoft Co., the crime and geographical analysis was done with the help of a system called the “GIS” system, which allows one to analyze various statistical data on a map and display it in a spatial manner.

By applying this system, one can observe places with the most crime by area, by day, and by crime type at a glance.

Within Seoul, areas with high living standards such as Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu were reported to have many crimes in their neighborhood.

Gangnam-gu recorded a total of 126 cases, Seocho-gu had 113, and Songpa-gu had 88. These numbers were 1.3 to 1.9 times more that the average Seoul district, which was 64.8 cases, during the same period.

As for the number of crimes committed per 100,000 people, Seoul had the highest rate with 16.4 cases, followed by Daejeon and Gwangju (15.7 cases), Ulsan (12.8 cases), Incheon (12.5 cases), Busan (11.5 cases), and Daegu (9.6 cases).

Choi In-sub, a crime trend researcher at the Crime Policy Research Institute, said, “Not only does many wealthy people live there, but also there are many bustling areas and constant people traffic through the Gangnam area, which resulted in the crime rate there being relatively high.”