Surveillance cameras will be mandatory on all apartment playgrounds and elevators in Korea as early as this July.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs has revised a housing construction law to make it compulsory for all underground apartment parking lots, elevators, playgrounds and building entrances to be covered by surveillance cameras.

So far, only apartments with underground parking lots holding 30 cars or more were required to have the cameras.

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Apartment blocks that do not have these cameras will need to attach them within a year unless half of its residents disagree with the idea.

The move was prompted by a raft of kidnappings involving children earlier this year.