Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Opens Jongno Center for Tourist Police Unit

Operating a Total of 5 Open Centers in Seoul

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 30th that it will open the Tourist Police Jongno Center at the entrance of Bukchon Hanok Village in Gahoe-dong, Jongno-gu, on the 1st of next month to prepare for the increase in tourists.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stated, "As the number of foreign tourists in the Jongno area, centered around the Blue House, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and Bukchon Hanok Village, has been steadily increasing, we will open the Tourist Police Jongno Center at the entrance of Bukchon Hanok Village in Gahoe-dong, Jongno-gu, on July 1 to protect tourists and enhance on-site response capabilities for tourism security."

The Jongno area, centered around Gwanghwamun Square and Sejong-daero, is densely packed with museums, art galleries, and palaces, attracting an increasing number of domestic and foreign tourists. Especially since the Blue House opened to the public last year, tourists have been concentrating around Bukchon Hanok Village. According to statistics from the Korea Tourism Organization (utilizing big data from news agencies), the number of foreign tourists in Jongno-gu has increased by approximately 63% compared to the previous year.

Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency reviewed the necessity of establishing an open-type tourist police center in the Jongno area and, in collaboration with Jongno-gu Office, remodeled a booth owned by the district office at the entrance of Bukchon Hanok Village to open it as the Tourist Police Jongno Center.

With this, the Tourist Police will operate a total of five open-type centers, including Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, Hongdae, Itaewon Centers, and now the Jongno Center, focusing on major tourist spots in Seoul. The center will handle complaints from foreign tourists, support processing of 112 emergency calls related to foreigners, and crack down on illegal tourism activities.

Kim Kwang-ho, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said, "Since the Blue House opened last year, foreign tourists have steadily increased in Bukchon, Seochon, Gyeongbokgung, and Gwanghwamun areas. Opening the Tourist Police Jongno Center at this time is very timely and meaningful as on-site security to create a safe tourism environment." He added, "We will do our best to instill an image of Korea as a safe and comfortable tourist destination that foreign tourists want to visit again."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.