Portable SOS emergency bells and security alarms that Seoul plans to distribute in December (Image provided by the Seoul city government)
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – The Seoul metropolitan government on Tuesday said it will hand out portable alarm devices to relieve public anxiety and ensure people’s safety in the face of a growing number of violent crimes in the capital.
The portable SOS pager, along with an alarm device, will first be provided to 10,000 people, including the victims and those at risk of sexual assault, dating violence or stalking crimes, the city government said.
The emergency pager emits a warning sound and instantly sends text messages containing the location information of the user to up to five people. Users can also apply a function that automatically reports to the police after 20 seconds have passed since the warning bell went off.
The alarm device sounds a strong warning horn once the user pulls at its ring.
The city is in the process of selecting a supplier for the self-protection gadgets, which will be distributed through police stations starting late December, after authorities decide on the recipients, city officials said.
Seoul city has been pushing various projects to increase public safety, including the launch of the safety app dubbed Ansimi in 2018, which aims to help people return home safely at night via monitoring through some 80,000 surveillance cameras across the city. It also expanded the number of security cameras in public parks and hiking trails in the city to reduce crime in blind spots.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said he had deliberated ways to ensure the safety of the people, citing an incident where a man attempted to rape a woman, then murdered her in a hiking trail in Seoul in broad daylight on Aug. 17.
“We will continue to reinforce safety policies for the vulnerable groups, including women, in the face of these crimes,” Oh said.
(Yonhap)
