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Gangnam Style: The district records Seoul’s highest crime rates

November 19, 2015
Gangnam district in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Gangnam district in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Psy’s 2012 mega-hit “Gangnam Style” painted an eccentric portrait of the Gangnam district, arguably the most upscale part of Seoul. It also put part of South Korea’s capital into the global consciousness.

The unfortunate reality is that in the past five years, Gangnam has had the most major crimes of any other area in Seoul, which include murder, theft, sex crimes and assault.

The figures come from the latest report provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

Gangnam topped the list with 45,109 total crimes reported followed by Songpa (36,328), Yeongdeungpo (33,551) and Gwanak (32,837).

Part of the explanation could be linked to population size. Gangnam has the third-highest number of residents at 582,000, while Songpa has the highest total at 670,480.

The famed district exceeded the 25 others in all the categories except for murder. Yeongdeungpo had the highest count, which could be attributed to its higher poverty levels.