S. Korea keeps guns on lockdown
Low rate of crime allows low-key Games security
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – While the USA grapples with another school shooting, thousands of Americans at the Winter Games are getting a firsthand look at a country with tough gun control laws and an extremely low violent crime rate.
Security at the Games has been low-key, lacking the heavily armed presence of previous Olympics.
“It’s really strange, because it seems like the security is almost nonexistent,” said Dana Feehan, 41, a Denver resident attending the Winter Games. “I would have expected heavy artillery at an event like this.”
The lack of a highly visible security presence reflects the low levels of violent crime, officials said.
There were 356 homicides in South Korea in 2016, a nation of 51 million, according to the National Police Agency. By contrast there were 762 murders that year in Chicago alone, a city of about 2.7 million people.
Guns for hunting or target practice must be registered and kept at a police station. Even biathletes couldn’t bring their rifles to their rooms and had to place them in a guarded warehouse, unlike at previous Olympics.
“Korea is a very safe country,” said Sung Baik You, a spokesman for the Pyeongchang organizing committee. “In the capital city of Seoul, you can walk around at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. and still be safe. I know that’s not the case in many big metropolitan cities around the world.”
Mina Lee, 20, a student, said a trag-
edy like the Florida shooting wouldn’t be likely in South Korea. “Students in our country don’t have guns,” she said. “There are violent people and bullies in school, but they can’t shoot everyone.”
South Korea, which has fewer guns per capita than any developed nation, has about 510,000 registered guns compared with about 300 million in the USA, which leads developed nations in gun ownership.
Multiple-victim shootings in South Korea are extremely rare. The country was the site of the third-deadliest mass shooting in world history, though it was more than 35 years ago. In 1982, a South Korean policeman went on a drunken shooting spree in the southern Kyongsang province, leaving 56 dead before killing himself.
Most police don’t carry sidearms, and few citizens can legally possess guns. The U.S. State Department notes in its travel advisory for Americans that crimes involving guns are uncommon because of the stringent gun laws.
“I haven’t seen any guns or anything,” said Faye Stokley, 76, a spectator from Houston. She said she feels secure.
There was a lot of worry going into the Winter Games because for the past year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump have traded insults and threats.
Pyongyang fired a record number of test missiles last year, continuing to improve its nuclear program in defiance of the international community.
The lack of a visible armed presence shouldn’t be confused with lax security. South Korea’s 625,000-person active-duty military is well-trained and equipped with modern U.S. arms.
The area is well-covered by video and other surveillance.
There are more than 25,000 American troops as well, to help defend the South in the event of an attack.
“When my friends back home tell me to be safe because of the danger here from North Korea, I point out that it’s much safer here than back in the United States,” said Stephen Tharp, a retired U.S. Army officer who lives in South Korea.
Odd Sverre Ostlie, 40, a Norwegian, said he attended the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, four years ago, where the security presence was pronounced. Heavily armed security forces were in the streets around sports venues.
“We don’t call that security,” he said. “We call it the armed forces.”
“Here it’s more relaxed,” said his friend, Erling Paulsone, 39. They were dressed in Viking hats and had painted faces as they strolled outside a venue, sipping beers.