Jeju

Is Jeju safe?

Yes, with one large exception: the roads. We score Jeju 83 out of 100, a little below Busan and Seoul. Korean police recorded 4 homicides and 20 robberies on the island in 2025, and crime against visitors is rare. But 56 people died in road crashes, about 8 per 100,000 residents, more than three times Seoul's rate, and rental cars are involved in a larger share of crashes here than anywhere else in Korea.

This page covers the whole island: Jeju City in the north, where the airport and most hotels are, and Seogwipo on the south coast. For entry rules and the rest of the country, see our South Korea page.

Driving on Jeju

Most visitors rent a car, because buses are slow outside the two cities. That is where the risk lies. Jeju police counted 2,414 rental-car crashes from 2021 to 2025, which killed 26 people and injured 4,032. Rental cars were involved in 11.4% of all crashes on the island, and Jeju was the only region in Korea where that share reached double figures. Drivers in their twenties caused the most.

The worst recent case was on Udo, the small island off Jeju's east coast. On 24 November 2025 a rental van that had just come off the ferry at Cheonjin harbour accelerated along the pier road, killing three people and injuring 11. Police arrested the driver, who said the van had accelerated by itself, and sent the vehicle for forensic tests.

What makes Jeju harder than it looks:

• Coastal and mountain roads are narrow, winding and unlit at night, with farm vehicles and cyclists.
• Many visitors are not used to driving on the right, or to Korean speed cameras.
• Fog and rain come in quickly on the roads around Hallasan.

Drive slowly, avoid country roads after dark, and take full insurance. South Korea's drink-driving limit is less than half England's, says the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary. If you would rather not drive, taxis are cheap by European standards and can be hired for a day with a driver.

Why the crime figures look high

Jeju is often described as having South Korea's highest crime rate, and per resident the police numbers do look high: 27,911 recorded cases in 2025 for about 670,000 residents, against roughly 3,300 per 100,000 in Seoul. Robberies and assaults per resident also run above Seoul's. But the denominator leaves out the millions of domestic and foreign visitors who are on the island at any time, and a large share of cases are traffic offences and fraud. Counted against the people actually present, Jeju looks much like the mainland.

For a visitor, the realistic problems are small: taxis that take a long route from the airport, restaurants with no prices on the menu, and things left in unlocked rental cars at viewpoints. Ask prices first and lock the car.

Walking at night

Jeju City's newer districts, Nohyeong and Yeon-dong, and the Tapdong waterfront stay lit and busy in the evening, as does central Seogwipo around Olle Market. Gallup's 2025 Global Safety Report found that 80% of South Koreans feel safe walking alone at night. Away from town, the island goes dark early. The Olle coastal walking trails are beautiful by day but have no lighting, and some sections pass long stretches without houses, so plan to finish before sunset. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary notes sexual assaults around bars and nightlife areas in South Korea; police recorded 371 rapes and sexual assaults on Jeju in 2025.

Typhoons, snow and stranded flights

Jeju sits in the path of typhoons heading for Korea and Japan, and is often hit first. In October 2016 Typhoon Chaba flooded homes and farmland on Jeju and went on to kill seven people in Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongju. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary gives the typhoon season as June to November, and the rainy season brings downpours in June and July.

Winter is a surprise for many visitors. Snow and strong wind regularly close Jeju International Airport, the only way off the island besides slow ferries. On 8 February 2026, 163 of 461 flights were cancelled and about 11,000 passengers were stranded. Keep a spare day before an international connection, and rebook online rather than in the queue.

Hallasan, at 1,947 metres South Korea's highest mountain, is a long day hike. Trails close in bad weather and have cut-off times for reaching the summit. Start early, carry warm layers, and use crampons in winter.

Air and health care

Jeju has the cleanest air in South Korea. Annual PM2.5PM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary was 13 µg/m³ in 2025, the lowest of the 17 provinces and down from 23 in 2015, according to the island's Institute of Health and Environment, though spring dust from mainland Asia still brings hazy days. Tap water is safe. The main hospitals are in Jeju City, and the island has fewer large hospitals than Seoul or Busan.

How we scored it

Violent crime (93), theft and scams (88) and walking at night (88) are close to Seoul's scores, and health and environment (82) benefits from the cleanest air in Korea. Traffic (64) is by far the weakest factor and pulls the island below Busan and Seoul: road deaths per resident are more than three times Seoul's. Natural hazards (75) reflects typhoons and the storms that cut the island off by air. We rate confidence as medium because island-wide rates leave out visitors.