Jakarta Globe – AFP, October 16, 2013
South Korean “tourist police” officers salute during their inauguration ceremony at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul on October 16, 2013. (AFP Photo/Jung Yeon–Je) |
Seoul.
South Korea unveiled its new “tourist police” force Wednesday, with snappy
uniforms from rapper Psy’s costume designer and a “Gangnam Style” launch in
central Seoul.
Around 100
young policemen and women make up the first batch of the new force — formed to
protect tourists from being ripped off during their stay in the South Korean
capital.
The
officers were handpicked for their linguistic skills, and can speak a range of
languages including English, Japanese and Mandarin.
“Those who
think they were overcharged by taxi drivers or street food vendors can come and
talk to us. We will help settle the problem,” English-speaking recruit Park
Jae-Hyoung told AFP.
Each
officer wears a badge denoting his language expertise on a special dark-blue
uniform created by one of the costume designers for the “Gangnam Style” star
Psy.
The
singer’s global hit was played at Wednesday’s launch event, with a police drill
unit performing his signature horse-riding dance.
“The
tourist police wasn’t created because this country is unsafe,” Lee Charm,
president of the Korea Tourism Organization told the new recruits.
“You are
ambassadors who promote how safe this country is,” he said. “From now on, you
guys will be very busy having pictures taken with tourists.”
The police
are unarmed and are meant to summon regular officers in the event of any
serious crime.
The number
of foreign travelers to South Korea has steadily grown over the years and
topped 10 million for the first time in 2012, partly thanks to interest sparked
by the global popularity of “Gangnam Style.”
The song,
released a year ago, made Psy an international star, and is the most popular
video of all time on YouTube with nearly 1.8 billion views.
Agence France-Presse
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