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The Seoul CCTV Safety Center is located on the 15th floor of the Esplex Center Smartium in Sangam-dong, Mapo District. A large screen automatically displays alerts and live feeds from five nearby CCTV cameras. The event list continuously shows incident numbers, addresses and brief summaries drawn from 112 and 119 emergency calls.
Seoul’s smart urban safety network forwards municipal and district CCTV footage to fire crews and patrol units when 119 or 112 calls are received, helping first responders verify scenes quickly. Operated by the Digital City Bureau’s ICT Division, the Seoul CCTV Safety Center consolidates dispersed camera feeds and functions as a hub, relaying real-time video to relevant agencies during emergencies.
Last year the center supplied 4.2 million video clips to six partner agencies — including the police, fire department, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Justice and the Seoul Metropolitan Government — supporting efforts to protect public safety and save lives. The police accounted for the largest share, receiving 3.2 million clips.
The roughly 120,000 cameras operated by district governments are monitored locally by each district. At the center, ten operators monitor 1,328 cameras belonging to seven city-run agencies — including those in urban parks — working in a five-team, three-shift rotation. When related agencies such as the Cultural Heritage Safety Situation Room and the Han River Park Integrated Control Center are included, the center manages a total of 2,798 cameras. Operators notify the appropriate agencies whenever they identify unusual activity.
\"We prioritize and separately monitor high-priority and high-risk locations so they can be checked more frequently,\" an operator said. \"We first notify the responsible management office, such as a park administration office. For serious incidents, we report them to 119, 112 or the Dasan Call Center so that action can be taken.\"
Seoul also operates an AI-powered high-speed search system that helps staff locate footage quickly. The city aims to complete deployment across all 25 districts by the end of this year. The system enables rapid filtering of large volumes of video by attributes such as gender or vehicle color, accelerating searches. It is currently used mainly to locate missing persons but will be expanded to assist investigations of incidents and accidents.
Reporter Jeong Hyun-jung iam@etnews.com
