Smartwatch issuances up 32% in two years

Anxiety grows as relationship-based violent crimes continue

A civil servant in his 30s, identified only as A, who killed his wife while divorce proceedings were underway, is escorted from the detention facility at Bundang Police Station in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to be transferred to prosecutors Thursday morning.
A civil servant in his 30s, identified only as A, who killed his wife while divorce proceedings were underway, is escorted from the detention facility at Bundang Police Station in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to be transferred to prosecutors Thursday morning.

More people are turning to police-issued smartwatches for personal protection every year, with requests from stalking victims rising sharply. The surge reflects growing public anxiety over a string of violent crimes committed by people known to the victims.

Data submitted by the Korean National Police Agency to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ye-ji of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee show that the number of smartwatch recipients has increased annually.

The devices are a personal-protection tool that police provide to victims of stalking and other crimes. They allow officers to pinpoint a victim's location in an emergency. Victims can also use the watch alone to alert police — without a mobile phone — and any report made through the device is automatically recorded through the police emergency-dispatch system.

Number of police smartwatch issuances from 2023 to 2025. [Generated with AI]
Number of police smartwatch issuances from 2023 to 2025. [Generated with AI]

The number of smartwatches issued to victims has climbed steeply each year. Police distributed 21,974 devices last year, up from 16,690 in 2023 and 17,508 in 2024 — a roughly 32 percent increase in just two years.

As of August this year, 11,724 devices had already been issued, putting the full-year total on track to approach last year's figure.

Among crime categories, stalking showed the steepest rise. Stalking victims received 6,982 smartwatches last year, nearly reaching 7,000. The figure stood at 4,423 in 2023 and 4,782 in 2024, and had already reached 6,132 through August this year.

Seoul recorded the highest number of issuances among all police jurisdictions. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency distributed 3,100 devices in 2023, 3,302 in 2024 and 4,122 last year. Through August this year, 3,052 had already been issued — nearly matching the full-year total for 2023.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency ranked second. It issued 2,305 devices in 2023, 2,712 in 2024 and 3,567 last year. Through August this year, the agency had already surpassed its full-year 2024 figure with 2,887 issuances.

Police demonstrate how a person under protection can use an AI-enabled CCTV system to identify an intruder and send an alert via smartwatch, at a demonstration held at a residence in Jeju in October 2021. [Yonhap]
Police demonstrate how a person under protection can use an AI-enabled CCTV system to identify an intruder and send an alert via smartwatch, at a demonstration held at a residence in Jeju in October 2021. [Yonhap]

The growing demand for police-issued smartwatches is attributed to a continuing wave of violent crimes committed by people known to the victims, including stalking cases.

On Sept. 1, a civil servant in his 30s, identified only as A, went to his wife's home and killed her while divorce proceedings were underway. A is accused of stabbing his wife on the staircase of a multi-unit residential building in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, at around 7:17 a.m. that day. The couple's child was present at the scene.

The victim used the smartwatch on her wrist to alert police to the emergency. At the same time, the device's recording function activated, capturing the entire attack.

The police dispatch log from that day included entries such as: "Only crying heard," "Male voice appears audible," "Crying continues," "Mom, mom (appears to be a child crying)" and "Baby, come here, come here (female voice)."

In March, Kim Hun, 44, traveled to the home of a former girlfriend in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, and killed her. The victim had also been issued a smartwatch and used it to alert police, but officers were unable to reach her in time to prevent the attack.

In response, police conducted a comprehensive review of approximately 15,000 active stalking investigations to strengthen their capacity to handle such crimes. Police have also adopted a policy of interviewing victims on the day a report is filed — including through home visits — and are stepping up measures to quickly protect victims and isolate perpetrators in relationship-based crimes.


20ki@heraldcorp.com