South Korea has unveiled its new 'tourist police force', with uniforms created by pop-star Psy's costume designer and a 'Gangnam Style' launch in central Seoul.

Around 100 young police officers make up the first batch of the new force, which has been formed to protect tourists from being ripped off during their stay in the South Korean capital.

The officers were selected for their linguistic skills, and they can speak a range of languages including English, Japanese and Mandarin.

"Those who think they were overcharged by taxi drivers or street food vendors can come and talk to us," English-speaking recruit Park Jae-Hyoung said.

"We will help settle the problem."

Each officer wears a badge denoting his language expertise on a special dark-blue uniform created by one of the costume designers for the 'Gangnam Style' star Psy.

Psy's global hit was played at Wednesday's launch event, featuring a police drill unit performing the singer's signature horse-riding dance.

The police are unarmed and are meant to summon regular officers in the event of any serious crime.

"The tourist police wasn't created because this country is unsafe," Korea Tourism Organization president Lee Charm told the new recruits.

"You are ambassadors who promote how safe this country is.

"From now on, you guys will be very busy having pictures taken with tourists."

AFP