A bleeding pregnant woman, a grandmother lost in pitch-black hills — they saved them all

The area south of Teheran-ro in Seoul's Gangnam-gu is a neighborhood that captures every face of the city. Affluent residential enclaves and Seoul's last remaining shantytown exist side by side, and the Daechi-dong hagwon district — the undisputed heart of South Korea's private education industry — sits squarely within its boundaries. The zone encompasses not only homes and schools but also a slice of Gangnam's commercial corridor.

The area south of Teheran-ro accounts for 64 percent of Gangnam-gu's total land area and is home to 70 percent of its population. Fifteen of the district's 22 administrative neighborhoods fall within this stretch — including Daechi (1, 2 and 4) dong, part of Yeoksam 1-dong, Yeoksam 2-dong, Gaepo (1, 2, 3 and 4) dong, Dogok (1 and 2) dong, Ilwon Bon and 1-dong, Suseo-dong and Segok-dong — making it Gangnam's primary residential belt. With such a dense settled population, maintaining public safety is essential. The large concentration of hagwon also makes youth a defining feature of the neighborhood.

The area is also a key transportation hub for the Gangnam corridor. Suseo Station serves as one of Seoul's major intercity rail gateways alongside Seoul, Yongsan and Cheongnyangni stations. It opened in December 2016 as the departure point for SRT high-speed trains and, from September, also became a KTX departure station. The GTX-A line was added in 2024, and foot traffic through the station has been growing steadily since.

Suseo Police Station, which is responsible for public safety in the area south of Teheran-ro in Gangnam-gu, was established in February 1998 with its base in Gaepo-dong. In 2006, its jurisdiction was adjusted in coordination with the neighboring Gangnam and Songpa police stations to form its current boundaries. Today the station operates three district police posts — in Daechi, Dogok and Ilwon — and three community police boxes in Gaepo, Suseo and Daewang, with each officer responsible for the safety of 564 residents.

The station has also resolved several high-profile cases in recent months. Officers arrested Lee Myeong-su, 77, within four hours of a series of arson attacks in Yeoksam-dong last month, and a persistent investigation uncovered his intent to kill, leading to additional charges of attempted murder.

Officers also managed a fire that burned for nearly 13 hours in Gangnam's Guryong Village with no major casualties, underscoring the station's role in protecting residents from major incidents across the area.

One area that draws particular attention from Suseo Police Station is the Daechi-dong hagwon district. With accidents involving personal mobility devices showing no sign of letting up, the station took firm action: working with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, it designated a 1.63-kilometer stretch around Dogok Elementary School as a kick-scooter-free zone starting Sept. 30.

In the Daechi-dong hagwon district, personal mobility devices are banned from noon to 11 p.m. Riders caught violating the restriction face a fine of 30,000 won ($22) and 15 demerit points on regular roads, or a fine of 60,000 won and 30 demerit points in school zones.

When Kim Jong-gon arrived for an interview at Suseo Police Station on Thursday, he was limping, a brace wrapped around his right knee. He had torn a ligament recently while subduing a large, violent drunk. It is the kind of sacrifice that defines Kim, a meticulous officer who patrols the Daechi-dong area and treats no call as too minor to take seriously.

After a string of unauthorized vehicle break-ins and a persistent wave of bicycle thefts in the Daechi-dong hagwon district, Kim took it upon himself to design and distribute prevention posters across the neighborhood.

The effort grew out of Kim's attention to detail. He had kept track of every incident in which an outsider had broken into an apartment parking lot and stolen items from vehicles. "About four similar cases occurred over roughly three months," he said, explaining what prompted the posters. "Once an officer recognizes a pattern, you can't just let it go."

Kim identified a common thread: vehicles with their side mirrors folded out were being targeted. He designed a poster warning residents of the risk and personally distributed it to apartment complexes in the area housing about 13,000 households.

He also produced a separate poster on bicycle lock safety to address the recurring thefts in the hagwon district and apartment complexes.

"I want to be the kind of officer people can tell at a glance is doing the job right," Kim said. "When a resident sees me, I want them to think, 'That officer is doing real work' — or after calling for help, 'That actually made a difference.'"

Senior Inspector Im Seong-taek found a missing person in crisis the way a seasoned investigator would — by trusting his senses. In September, he pulled an 88-year-old grandmother to safety out of the darkness on Beombawi Mountain.

Im and the first-response team were deployed to search for the missing woman at around 10 p.m. that night. The first-response team operates on a rotating basis, meaning officers drop whatever they are working on and rush out the moment an emergency call comes in.

"As we were heading up the mountain, we ran into firefighters who were calling off the search and coming back down," Im recalled. "I thought to myself, 'This is going to be a battle against the dark.'"

Im took up the rear of the search party and followed the trail upward. As he climbed, a faint sound drifted to him from somewhere off the path. It was too quiet for anyone else to catch, but Im did not let it pass.

"I have pretty sharp hearing," he said, describing the moment. "I told my team members to search the area around that sound." They fanned out and eventually found the grandmother, barely holding on with the help of a single walking stick.

Im still keeps a photo from the moment they found her. "The relief and sense of fulfillment from knowing we kept searching to the end — that's why I saved the picture," he said.

"All six of us on the first-response team went up, and everyone gave everything they had — that's how we were able to find her," Im said. "One of my colleagues had worn brand-new shoes that day. By the time the search was over, they were completely black."

Asked what drives his dedication to service, Im said: "I work with the mindset of being a police officer who helps the vulnerable and one who the bad guys fear. I think that attitude shows."

Senior Officer Kwon Da-in of the crime prevention unit, who works closely with the first-response team, never lets a small voice from the field go unheard. Kwon recently proposed an idea to improve the team's search equipment and was recommended for a commendation from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency commissioner. Kwon had also received a citation from the local autonomous committee shortly before that.

Kwon made a habit of listening carefully when officers returned from the field and shared their frustrations — complaints like "we didn't have enough equipment" or "it was hard to find our way." Rather than letting those remarks pass, Kwon thought hard about how to address the difficulties and started by proposing an expansion of equipment.

"It was really upsetting to see the first-response team rushing out to fire scenes having to borrow masks on the way out," Kwon said, explaining the motivation. "I pushed for us to get proper equipment."

Nighttime search gear was also upgraded. Drawing on the emergency response equipment budget allocated under local police operating expenditures, the station supplied every patrol vehicle across all local precincts with high-performance multi-lanterns, and also distributed chemical light sticks and other marking tools to each patrol car.

Officer Oh Seung-hun of Suseo Police Station's traffic safety team 2, who is getting married Nov. 22, recently came to the rescue of a couple in crisis. He escorted a pregnant woman who was bleeding to the hospital after she was rushed to the emergency room.

"It was rush hour, so traffic was very heavy," Oh recalled. "A call came in while the pregnant woman was on her way to Samsung Medical Center, so I escorted her. The situation was urgent, so I turned on the siren and broadcast that there was an emergency patient to clear the way."

With Oh leading the way, a route that would normally take 20 minutes was covered in 10, and the woman arrived at the hospital safely. "When we got to the hospital, her husband kept saying 'thank you' over and over," Oh said. "I want to be a dependable officer at the side of the people I serve — just like that day."