Drone Patrols of Jeju Olle Trails and Oreums to Begin as Residents’ Autonomous Police Unit Deploys on Weekends and Holidays

【Financial News Jeju=Jung Yong-bok】 A Residents’ Autonomous Police Drone Patrol Unit has been launched to monitor Jeju’s Olle trails, coastal areas and oreums from the air. The unit will conduct regular patrols on weekends and public holidays and support autonomous police searches in emergencies, including cases involving missing persons.
According to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Autonomous Police Agency on the 29th, members of the Jeju Safety Drone Association were appointed that morning as members of the Residents’ Autonomous Police Drone Patrol Unit.
The initiative began with a voluntary proposal from members of the Jeju Safety Drone Association. Drawing on their drone operation skills and field experience, the members will inspect areas that are difficult to monitor through ground patrols alone.
The patrol areas include Olle trails, coastal areas and oreums in the eastern and western parts of Jeju City and Seogwipo City. Regular patrols will be conducted mainly on weekends and public holidays.
The patrols will focus on issues related to Jeju’s outdoor tourism and leisure environment. Along the Olle trails, the members will check whether visitors have strayed from their routes or need assistance. Along the coast, they will monitor the risk of anglers becoming stranded on rocky shores and the possibility of accidents caused by swell waves. They will also check whether people have entered restricted areas or other dangerous locations, such as coastal cliffs.
The drones will also be used in searches for missing persons. When a large area needs to be searched quickly, such as in a missing-person case, the unit will support drone searches alongside the Jeju Autonomous Police Agency.
Because of the terrain, many of Jeju’s Olle trails, oreums and coastal areas are difficult to monitor across a wide area from the ground at once. Drones can track people’s movements and surrounding terrain from above, helping to expand the field of view of conventional patrols. The new drone patrol unit combines private-sector expertise with the activities of the Residents’ Autonomous Police Unit.
Lee Cheol-woo, head of the Daily Safety Division at the Jeju Autonomous Police Agency, said, "It is meaningful that members of the Jeju Safety Drone Association are voluntarily sharing their expertise and experience for the safety of the community," adding, "We will use drones to check even places that police officers have difficulty inspecting directly and connect what we find to a swift response."


[email protected] Jung Yong-bok Reporter