Is Gimpo safe?
South Korea · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Gimpo is a city in South Korea, home to about 178k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 460 of 6,168, with a safety score of 83.4 out of 100 - among the safest cities in this dataset.
Emergency Ambulance 119 · Fire 119 · Police 112
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for South Korea are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Gimpo really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Gimpo recorded 0.7 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2015 - well below the global city median. South Korea's income inequality is middling (Gini 32.9) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates South Korea at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2025-05-27). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for South Korea without any avoid-travel warning in force. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in South Korea
Terrorism in South Korea · National service · Demonstrations · Contingency planning · Crime · Personal ID · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Road travel · Taxis · Typhoons · Flooding and landslides · Earthquakes · Forest fires
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for South Korea — country-level, not specific to Gimpo. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 0.7 /100kcity-measured, 2015
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 32.9country, 2021
- Human development
- HDI 0.937country, 2023
- Income
- $64,210/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 178kurban centre · 3,717/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 8.6 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 77/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 76/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 63/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 2.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.81Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 21.9 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 99%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 2.6 doctors /1k12.8 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in South Korea
- Cyclone
- 8.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 7.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 6.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 5.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe South Korea as a whole, not Gimpo specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in South Korea (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in South Korea; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Gimpo that gives 83.4/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Gimpo compared with Seoul
| Measure | Gimpo | Seoul | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 83.4 | 83.4 | ±0.0 |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 0.7 /100k | 0.7 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in South Korea, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Seoul →
Nearby cities
- Seoul 83.4
- Kaesong, North Korea n/a
- Dongducheon 85.9
- Hwado 83.4
- Paechon, North Korea n/a
- Pyeongtaek 85.9
- Phyongsan, North Korea n/a
- Cheonan-si 85.9
See Gimpo on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →