Seoul Safety: Military police

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US military personnel are supposed to be on base by around 1am (3am on weekends), but some will stay out late. To deal with this, US Military Police will patrol the streets of Seoul, accompanied by Korean police, and check the IDs of any male who could appear to fit the profile of an American soldier. By law, all foreigners must carry their passport or Korean alien registration card at all times, and Korean police are allowed to check them at any time. (A driver's license is not good enough, because it doesn't show if you're in Korea as a soldier or not.) Failure to identify yourself allows the police to detain you and take you to a police station or US military base to "run your numbers", although they may agree to escort you to your hotel instead. Burden of proof in this situation is on the accused, not the accuser.

Once you have proven that you are not US military, they have to release you. That's nothing to worry about. However, they will release you by the base/station, not where they found you. You could end up with an expensive taxi ride and your night ruined, as it could take hours for this to be completed. This doesn't happen often, but happens enough. Americans saying "I am an English teacher" or anyone saying "I am Canadian", be warned, this one doesn't work very well (Canadians get snagged probably more than Americans). If MPs and Korean police approach you and you don't have ID, your best bet is to speak some other European language and foreign ignorance.