Hwado scores 83 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 461 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Is Hwado safe?

South Korea · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04

83.4Very high · rank 461 / 6,168
safer than 93% of ranked cities

Hwado is a city in South Korea, home to about 131k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 461 of 6,168, with a safety score of 83.4 out of 100, which puts it in the top band of the ranking.

US 1/4 Exercise normal precautions

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 Hwado really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Hwado 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 Hwado. 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: 131kurban centre · 5,477/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 Hwado 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

Low homicide40%78

Peace25%100

Equality25%71

Development10%94

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 Hwado that gives 83.4/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Hwado compared with Seoul

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Hwado, red favours Seoul.
Measure	Hwado	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

See Hwado on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →