If you plan on bringing your children with you, or having children while in Seoul, you can bet that your kids will have an advantage over most other children in your home country. In Korea, educating children is every parent’s (and even the government’s) top priority. Schools are well equipped and the newer structures have state of the art teaching/learning equipment. The streets are very safe compared to most Western countries, and although Korean parents are very protective of their children, Seoul is among the safest cities in the world. Violent crime is extremely rare and though child abductions occur at times, they are not very common.
Probably the biggest challenge for expat parents is the lack of available, secure child care. It is very difficult to find adequate child care in the city as Korean parents rarely need to use it. That’s the only major issue, though, and Seoul is full of areas where your kids will enjoy themselves: amusement parks, water parks, zoos, kid-friendly museums and aquariums are just a few of the activities to explore when you move to Seoul. Theatres in Seoul usually get all the latest Pixar and Disney movies, as well, so your child won’t be missing out on the latest blockbusters.
You will rarely see Korean children on their own in the streets. This is because Korean parents are very concerned about child abduction and tend to keep their kids close to them. While this is a good practise, there are measures in place to help protect school aged children in Seoul against abduction and there is a telecom service that lets parents know exactly where their children are at all times of the school day. While it is always necessary to keep small children close by and, as parents, be concerned with their whereabouts, you should know that Seoul is probably one of the safest cities in which to have children.
