Child small pool deaths have parents, experts pushing for better safety standards and training
Published: 24 Nov. 2025, 14:05
Updated: 24 Nov. 2025, 14:21
![Children swim in an indoor kids' pool featured in an advertisment. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/24/6674f259-ba3a-47e2-a093-fcba70dd0209.jpg)
Children swim in an indoor kids' pool featured in an advertisment. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
A string of accidents involving young children at pools inside rental houses and urban kids’ facilities in Korea is prompting calls for clearer safety standards, as many of the venues operate without trained staff supervision.
Authorities in Gangneung, Gangwon, said they received a call around noon on Sunday that a 14-month-old boy had fallen into a pool at a rental house. The child was transported to a hospital in cardiac arrest. The facility, run by a sole proprietor, did not employ a lifeguard.
In February, a 10-month-old baby died at a pool villa in Goseong County, Gangwon, after the parents found the child in a small indoor pool around midnight. The parents said they discovered the child missing while they slept and then found the baby in the water.
Experts warn that shallow pools pose serious risks to toddlers. In May 2023, a 20-month-old child died at a pool villa in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi, in water about 80 centimeters (2.6 feet) deep.
Safety concerns are also rising in cities, where new business models such as kids’ pools and “water rooms” — kids’ cafes that add small pools — have gained popularity. Many operate on a time-rental basis and do not staff dedicated supervisors.
In July 2023, a two-year-old girl drowned in a kids’ pool in Incheon’s Cheongna International City, where the water depth was 67 centimeters.
![An illegally operated rental house with an indoor swimming pool advertised as a “rural guesthouse” [UIJEONGBU PROSECUTORS’ OFFICE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/24/59914a73-cf85-46e0-8e4b-b94ca686a97b.jpg)
An illegally operated rental house with an indoor swimming pool advertised as a “rural guesthouse” [UIJEONGBU PROSECUTORS’ OFFICE]
Most of these child-oriented pool businesses are registered as space-rental facilities. They therefore operate in a gray area, falling outside the scope of Korea’s Act on the Safety Control of Children's Play Facilities.
Parents on online forums have also warned that when adults drink and fall asleep, children can enter pools that still have water in them, and that some accidents happen during the day when a caregiver looks away “just for a moment.”
Song Chang-young, a disaster and safety management professor at Gwangju University, said the growth of new recreational facilities across categories such as space rentals, tourist pensions and rural guesthouses has created regulatory confusion.
“In practice, the best protection is for parents and other caregivers to stay vigilant. We also need a standardized training system that requires on-site safety education,” he said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM CHUL-WOONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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