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As foreign visitors, residents surge, police form units to overcome language barriers
Police control pedestrian movement in central Seoul's Myeong-dong, Dec. 24, 2025. Yonhap
By Park Ung
With rise in international population, police move beyond tourist patrols
As Korea cements its status as a premier global destination, the police are overhauling frontline operations to preserve the country’s reputation for safety.
On Sunday, officials announced the nationwide deployment of specialized “foreign affairs” units within mobile patrol units (MPU), a move aimed at navigating the linguistic and cultural challenges posed by a surging population of international residents and tourists.
The Korean National Police Agency said it will roll out 23 foreign affairs teams at 15 of the country’s 28 MPUs in the first half of this year. In Seoul, seven teams will be formed, including three assigned to central districts including Jongno, Yongsan and Jung, areas most frequented by foreigners.
Outside the capital, eight teams will be deployed in southern Gyeonggi Province, three on Jeju Island, two in Busan and one each in Incheon, South Chungcheong Province and South Gyeongsang Province.
MPUs were established in 2024 in response to public safety concerns triggered by a series of stabbing incidents in 2023. Operating in teams of seven to eight officers, the units focus on problem-solving patrols to prevent crime in blind spots and respond quickly to serious emergency calls.
Police said the department-based system it replaced — divided among patrol, investigation and traffic units — was too rigid to respond flexibly to emerging threats.
Members of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Mobile Patrol Unit work in Jongno District in central Seoul, April 16, 2024. Newsis
The new foreign affairs teams reflect rising numbers of both foreign suspects and victims as tourism and long-term residency among non-Koreans grow.
More than 18.5 million foreign tourists visited Korea last year, surpassing the previous record of 17.5 million set in 2019, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. As of 2024, the number of foreign nationals staying in Korea for more than 90 days reached about 2.04 million, topping 2 million for the first time on record.
Police data showed that nearly 200,000 foreign nationals were investigated in connection to criminal cases in Korea between 2020 and last August. The number of criminal cases involving foreign victims also rose from about 28,000 in 2023 to nearly 41,700 as of last September.
Against this backdrop, the culture ministry last year called on police to revive the tourist police. Heightened security concerns involving foreign tourists following last year’s escalation of anti-China protests linked to former President Yoon Seok Yeol’s election fraud claims also played a role.
Police, however, opted to establish foreign affairs teams within the MPUs, viewing the move as more effective for crime control and prevention.
Launched in 2013, the tourist police were disbanded in 2023 amid a government drive to downsize the force and improve efficiency.
“The former tourist police mainly operated in areas frequented by foreign visitors and often handled tasks that fell outside core policing duties, such as guiding visitors or cracking down on unregistered accommodations,” a police official at the MPU division told The Korea Times.
By contrast, the new teams will focus on crime prevention and response across a broader range of locations, including neighborhoods with high concentrations of international students and foreign residents, the official added.
“The teams are expected to be formed around February, with officers selected primarily for their foreign language skills,” she said.
Last year, the Jeju Provincial Police launched the country’s first mobile patrol team dedicated to crimes involving foreigners, conducting preventive patrols during cruise ship arrivals in Seogwipo.