‘Everyone will die at this rate’: Crime fears spread in Jeju, but statistics tell a more complicated story

Four bodies recovered in Jeju over three days have prompted online warnings that the island is becoming a place where people disappear and die. Social media users posted comments such as “Everyone will die at this rate. Get out quickly,” while a so-called “Jeju missing-person map” appeared online.

The alarm followed the discovery of the bodies of a woman in her 30s who had been missing for a long time and a man in his 60s. A man in his 20s was also found dead on the Seogwipo coast on Aug. 29, a day after he was reported missing. Online comments described Jeju as a neighborhood where searches produce bodies.

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Everyone will die at this rate. Get out quickly.

Official figures offer a less stark picture. Jeju recorded 4,193.8 crimes per 100,000 people last year, the highest rate among South Korea’s regions and well above Busan’s 3,605.5. But the calculation uses Jeju’s registered population of about 670,000, while the 27,880 recorded crimes also include offenses committed by visitors. A tourist caught driving a rental car while intoxicated, for example, is included in Jeju’s crime total.

Jeju attracts about 13 million visitors a year, giving it a much larger day-to-day population than its registered population. One police officer said serious offenses such as murder and robbery are rare, while violence and petty theft make up most cases, calling the ranking partly a statistical illusion. Foreign crime also appears comparable with major cities. Foreign nationals made up 3.5% of suspects arrested in Jeju last year, below southern Gyeonggi’s 4.13% and close to Seoul’s 3.42% and Incheon’s 3.19%. Adult missing-person reports totaled 786, ranking Jeju seventh per 100,000 residents among 18 regional police agencies.

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The crime rate ranking is number one because the resident population is small, but there is a statistical illusion.