USA Today recently compared Korea’s high level of security with the Olympic Winter Games compared to the United States, where a large fire accident occurred again. The armed security personnel evaluated the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which is relatively inconspicuous, to reflect a low-crime social atmosphere.
Dena Pian 41, of Denver USA, who visited PyeongChang to visit the Olympic Games, said in an interview with the media that a large armed security unit would be responsible for the security, but it was surprising that there were few security personnel.
The media quoted an official at the Olympic committee, saying, “We should not misunderstand that there is no armed security personnel presence.” It is because 625,000 personnel who are highly trained are standing at the border and some places are being photographed by closed-circuit camera (CCTV).
The media said that the relatively low number of armed security workers in PyeongChang, compared to the Sochi Olympic Games in Russia four years ago, reflects the high level of security in Korean society. Yet, citing the Korea side of the police data added, “The 51 million people living in South Korea in 2016 murder happened 356 cases in 2.7 million people, while the population of Chicago’s 762 crimes such as murder.”
The media linked South Korea’s low murder rate with strong gun control. Called “hunting and firearms training must go through the registration and the law enforcement agency that takes on firearms control. Even a biathlon player must put their rifle in the armory not in their room, which is different from the previous Olympics” media point this out.
In South Korea, crimes involving guns are uncommon because of the stringent gun laws. https://t.co/yaGFFWbfK1
— Alex Ptachick ? (@alexptachick) February 19, 2018
The media said that with such a strong firearm regulation, the shooting rate of guns in South Korea was very low, except for the shooting of police officers in 1982 in Gyeongnam.
USA Today said it recorded “the lowest number of guns per capita in developed countries”. “There are about 300,000 guns in the United States with the highest firearms among developed countries, compared to about 510,000 guns in Korea.”
The US Department of State is also introducing Korea to its own people, saying that it is rare that related incidents and accidents are caused by strong firearm regulations.
“I have never seen a gun in Korea, I feel very safe in here” said Scotty 75, who visited PyeongChang to watch the Olympics from Houston. An American veteran Steven currently lives in South Korea, said that “My friends in my hometowns worried about the North Korean threat, but in fact, I tell my friends here is much safer than the United States.”
