Sexual harassment: Hongdae a hotbed of secret cameras

Police and Seoul Metro have been targeting people using secret cameras in the city's subway stations to curb sexual harassment. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

By Ko Dong-hwan

Seoul's Hongik University Station has again posted the most cases of people using secret cameras to sexually harass, the city subway operator said Tuesday.

There were 83 reports of the crime at the station in Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, in northwestern Seoul, in 2017, according to Seoul Metro and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA). There were 94 cases in 2016.

The station is next to Hongdae district, one of the city's busiest night spots that attracts Koreans, expats and tourists. The station on Line No.2 is often crammed until late at night.

Those wearing short skirts or other revealing outfits are often the targets of those using the cameras.

Among 10 Seoul subway stations with most reports of people using secret cameras in 2017, those on Line No.2 accounted for almost 50 percent ― 294 out of 643 reports. Line No.2 is the only Seoul subway line that runs in a circuit.

Seoul Metro cracked down on the crime in 2016-17, but the number of cases increased from 587 to 643. Overall crime reports hit 870 in 2015, with Gangnam Subway Station recording the most with 111.

The subway authority said 50 female subway police officers search and monitor the city's 255 stations from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. three days a week. Seoul Metro also employees 295 “subway sheriffs” and, with SMPA, operates teams of security guards who patrol three times a day.

In the 2017 statistics, Hongik University Station was followed by Express Bus Terminal Station with 51 reports. Other stations in the top 10 include Gangnam (45), Seoul (45), Shindorim (38), Sadang (34), Daerim (30), Seoul National University (17), Yeoksam (15) and Konkuk University Station (14).

Line No.8 has been the safest in the past three years, recording only one report in 2017 and single digits in the two previous years. It has 17 stations, the least on lines No.1-9.