'Woke up in a reed field': Jeju YouTuber warns of safety risks on the island

A YouTuber living on Jeju Island has raised concerns about public safety there, recounting a series of violent crimes that occurred on the island.

On Wednesday, the YouTuber known as "Jeju Island Kkukkujini," who has about 70,000 subscribers, posted a video titled "Why do I feel so uneasy? The real state of Jeju's public safety, as told by a Jeju resident."

The video opened with an anecdote the YouTuber said was relayed to her by a friend of an acquaintance.

A woman had been drinking in the early hours and fell asleep in the back seat of a taxi on her way home. When she woke up, the cab had stopped not near her home but in a remote area. "Her home was in the opposite direction, but she had gotten into a taxi after drinking in the early hours," the YouTuber said. "She was tired and fell asleep, and when she woke up and looked outside, there was nothing but a reed field. The car was stopped, and the taxi driver had stepped outside and was on the phone with someone in front of the vehicle. She said all she could see around her was reeds."

Frightened, the woman slipped out of the back seat while the driver was on the phone, pushed her way through the reeds and fled, then reported the incident to police.

"That friend is also a local resident, but either way, you have to be careful," the YouTuber warned.

She also described another alleged incident at a public restroom in Jeju. A woman who had been drinking entered a public restroom in the early morning hours and was strangled with a phone charger cable by a man who emerged from an adjacent stall.

"The woman screamed loudly, and fortunately a young man in the men's restroom next door heard her and rushed in — that's how the attacker was caught," the YouTuber said. She added that safety lighting and emergency bells had since been installed around the restroom.

The YouTuber also shared a personal experience involving a confrontation with a Chinese family at a restaurant in Jeju. She said she had been talking with the restaurant owner about Korean political and social issues when a Chinese family at the next table overheard the conversation and objected, leading to an argument.

She said the family then left without paying for their food. "If you order pajeon, you should pay before you leave — they ate and ran without paying," she said. She added that she ultimately paid the bill for what the family had ordered.

The video also referenced a violent crime that took place on Jeju. In September 2016, a woman in her 60s who was praying alone at a Catholic church in Jeju was stabbed and killed by a Chinese man. The attacker had entered Jeju under the island's visa-free entry regime before attacking the woman at the church. The victim was taken to a hospital but did not survive.

The YouTuber also expressed concern about crimes committed by people exploiting the visa-free system. "There have been cases where people abused Jeju's no-visa policy to scout out locations in advance and then rob jewelry stores," she said. "If foreigners commit crimes, the penalties should be strengthened."

However, the YouTuber acknowledged that some of the incidents she described were not things she had witnessed herself but stories passed on to her by people she knew. The specific details of the cases and any investigation outcomes have not been independently verified.