The South Korean rapper, Psy, had a global hit with "Gangnam Style," and now Seoul has unveiled a new tourist police force with a close connection to the singer and the song, according to CNN.
The Korean fashion designer Kim Seo-ryong, the same designer that created the costumes for Psy, designed the uniforms worn by the officers. As the police force was introduced, they did the horse-riding dance made famous in the video as "Gangnam Style" played during the inauguration ceremony at Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square.
The government decided to launch the police force, which is made up of 101 officers, in response to the increase in visitors to Seoul, the country's capital, according to South Korea's Tourism Board (KTO).
"These tourist police officers will be patrolling major tourist areas in Seoul, such as Myeong-dong, Insa-dong, Itaewon Tourist Special Zone and Hongdae," the official announcement read. "Aside from maintaining law and order and cracking down on overcharging merchants and taxi drivers, the officers will also be providing tourist assistance in English, Japanese and Chinese."
Tourist complaints rose from 23.6 percent, which was the percentage of tourist complaints filed by foreign tourists in 2008, to 34.7 percent in 2012. Overcharging by taxis and other transportation operators accounted for 15 to 20 percent of the complaints of the last five years, according to Chosun.com.
Currently, the new police force will only be in Seoul, but the country plans to expand them to other regions in the next few years.
"At the moment we don't have enough personnel to expand the service to other regions, but we are planning on hiring more officers," Ryou Hyun-cheol, the director of foreign affairs planning division at the National Police Agency, told the Korea Times. "By early next year, we are planning on launching tourism police in Jeju Island.
"We will also expand the service to cities such as Busan and Incheon," he continued.
The new Seoul police force dancing to "Gangnam Style."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
