Is South Korea safe in 2026?
South Korea scores 84.3/100 on the live safety index — generally safe. The main pressure on the score comes from military conflict, nuclear risk, natural disasters. The score has been stable for 19 days. The 24-hour AI forecast calls the trend stable (projected 84.0/100).
84.3 /100generally safe
30-day trend
South Korea's score fell by −2.6 over the last 30 days (86.9 → 84.3).
Threat breakdown
| Category | Pressure | Score / cap |
|---|---|---|
| Military conflict | 8.8 / 30 | |
| Nuclear risk | 2.4 / 12 | |
| Natural disasters | 0.9 / 5 | |
| Political instability | 1.6 / 15 | |
| Economy | 0.6 / 8 | |
| Crime | 0.8 / 15 | |
| Ecology | 0.1 / 1 | |
| Internet freedom | 0.3 / 7 | |
| Public health | 0.1 / 3 | |
| Sanctions | 0.0 / 4 |
Higher category scores mean more threat pressure; each category is capped by its weight in the 0–100 index. How scores are computed.
Official travel advisory
1 Exercise Normal Precautions
The U.S. State Department places South Korea at Level 1 — Exercise Normal Precautions. Our live index reads 84.3/100. That advisory was last revised May 28, 2025, 461 days ago; the index above is recomputed continuously from current reporting.
Source: U.S. Department of State, revised May 28, 2025. Levels run 1 (normal precautions) to 4 (do not travel). This page is not travel advice.
Latest recorded events
- Weather tracker: Extreme rainfall deluges Japan and South Korea
- South Korea landslide kills one as heavy rains sweep southern areas, media reports
- South Korea fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed demarcation line, Yonhap says
- U.S. TerraPower, South Korea's SK Innovation sign preliminary deal on global SMR projects
- South Korean gambling ring used sexual exploitation videos to lure millions of users
- S. Korea to upgrade key battle tank, anti-ship missile programs: arms agency
24-hour forecast
Trend: stable · projected score 84.0/100 (generated )
Extreme rain, a landslide death, and a DMZ incident create modest near-term risk.
Compared with nearby countries
| Country | Score | 0–100 | vs South Korea |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 84.3 | — | |
| North Korea | 32.4 | −51.9 | |
| Japan | 91.1 | +6.8 | |
| Taiwan | 74.3 | −10.0 | |
| Hong Kong | 83.0 | −1.3 | |
| Macao | 90.0 | +5.7 |