Pedestrians cross a street in Seoul. (Getty Images) Roughly one in 10 traffic deaths in South Korea last year involved pedestrians crossing roads outside of designated crosswalks, underscoring the continued risks of crossing away from marked intersections.According to the Traffic Accident Analysis System, operated by the Korea Road Traffic Authority, 234 people died in pedestrian accidents that occurred while crossing roads outside of crosswalks in 2025. This makes up nearly one-tenth of the 2,549 traffic fatalities recorded during the same period.This has remained a persistent factor in fatal road accidents. In 2020, 337 people died outside of crosswalks, accounting for 10.9 percent of all traffic deaths. The figures in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 also consistently ranged from 9 to 10 percent.Pedestrian accidents are not limited to those outside of crosswalks. They can also occur in crosswalks, especially when pedestrians ignore traffic signals.TAAS data shows that accidents that occurred in crosswalks accounted for 250 deaths and 11,322 injuries last year.Survey data from the 2025 Traffic Culture Index provides a snapshot of pedestrians' road-crossing habits.According to the survey, released in January by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, 73.4 percent of 24,273 respondents said they don't jaywalk.Respondents were asked whether, in the previous 30 days, they had crossed a road at a location other than a crosswalk despite one being available nearby. The results suggest that about three in 10 respondents had done so at least once during that period.Common reasons included "believing there was enough time to cross" or that it "did not seem dangerous."Under South Korea’s Road Traffic Act, pedestrians must use crosswalks, underpasses or overpasses where available, but in areas without a crosswalk, pedestrians may cross by taking the shortest possible route.