Foreign-Language Emergency Calls Surge as Korea Police Face Interpreter Shortage
Foreign-language calls to Korea’s 112 emergency service have risen sharply as record visitor numbers strain police interpretation capacity, prompting local translation tools and development of a real-time AI system.
South Korean police are facing mounting pressure to provide interpretation as foreign-language emergency calls rise alongside a record influx of international visitors. The increase is testing both the 112 call system and officers’ ability to communicate with foreign nationals during investigations and at crime scenes.
Data submitted by the National Police Agency to ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ju-min showed that police received 21,252 emergency calls in foreign languages last year. That was more than double the 10,348 recorded in 2024. The total reached 21,012 through August this year, already close to the figure for all of last year.
The strain has grown as foreign arrivals increased 21.5 percent from a year earlier to 17.11 million in the first nine months of 2026, compared with 14.08 million during the same period in 2025. Police have sought more professional interpreters, particularly for languages other than English and Chinese, but recruitment has been constrained by limited funding.
Interpretation is more readily available at 112 emergency call centers, where interpreters are on duty. Police stations, however, generally arrange civilian interpreters case by case. Because many of those interpreters have other jobs, officers may struggle to secure assistance at short notice. The problem can be more acute at crime scenes, where timely and accurate communication can affect both emergency response and legal procedure.
Seoul police had 629 registered civilian interpreters as of September. Chinese was the most widely covered language, with 198 interpreters, followed by English with 97, Vietnamese with 64 and Japanese with 57. Russian, Mongolian and Thai had smaller pools, highlighting uneven capacity across languages.
The communication challenge carries legal consequences when police arrest foreign nationals. Officers must explain why a suspect is being arrested and inform the person of the right to legal counsel. Language barriers can complicate the delivery and understanding of those rights.
Some police units have introduced technology to bridge the gap. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency developed a smartphone application that provides the Miranda warning in selected languages through audio and text. Seoul’s Mapo Police Station is using a standalone device that translates officers’ speech and can also assist foreign visitors seeking police services.
At the national level, police are developing an artificial intelligence interpretation system designed to identify foreign languages and translate conversations with emergency callers in real time. Until it is completed and deployed more broadly, however, police will continue to rely heavily on a limited network of human interpreters.