By Nam Hyun-woo
Controversy has ignited over how young a child should be to accompany their parents to public bathhouses regardless of their gender, as a growing number of public bathhouse goers are calling for lowering the legal age limit below the current five.
About a month ago, a 23-year-old university student surnamed Kim experienced a frightening incident while she was bathing in a public bathhouse in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. A boy who seemed to be at least eight years old abruptly groped her breasts and ran away to his mother in the women’s bath.
“I’ve been generous to boys following their mothers to women’s baths, thinking that they are too young to have awareness of sex. However, after this happening, I felt like I was sexually molested and I’m not even willing to go to public bathhouses,” she said.
Kim said that the boy’s mother did not apologize to her and took bringing his 5-year-old son, to a women’s bath for granted, claiming it was “perfectly legal.”
In fact, this is a common complaint among female public bath users in Korea. As parents and grandparents customarily bring their children to public bathhouses regardless of gender, young women, like Kim are increasingly expressing how uneasy they feel about the practice.
They claim boys, regardless of their age, should be banned or the age limit should go down further.
Under the current Public Health Control Act, both males and females over the age of five should not enter public bathhouses together. If this is violated, the owner of the bathhouse faces fines of 3 million won ($2,680).
The act was revised in 2003 from the previous age of seven, but still a slew of people, including bathhouse owners, agree with the need to further lower the current age limit to three or two.
Bathhouse owners say it is difficult to determine a child’s age at a glance.
“We know there is a rule regarding children’s bathhouse entering, but they are younger than they look, these days,” said a bathhouse owner in Gangnam, Seoul.
“If a child’s mother insists that her son is younger than the age limit, bathhouse owners like me have no way to prevent them from entering women’s bath,” she said.
In 2009, Korea Bathhouse Owners’ Association requested the Ministry of Health and Welfare to lower the age limit to four to settle the mounting complaints from customers. However, its request was rejected because others view that the act should consider the children of single-parent families or dual-income couples.
According to an official at the ministry, it is well aware of the complaints from some customers, but a revision to the act is a contentious matter, since the ministry has to factor in the concerns of those who have no choice but to bring their children together to use public bathhouses.
“If a social consensus regarding this issue is made, the ministry will support the revision of the act,” said the official.
Childcare experts say children are also sexually aware and parents should refrain from bringing their opposite gender children to public bathhouses.
“Parents should not show their children’s gentiles to the other gender in public places like bathhouses to educate children that their sex deserves respect,” said a chief director at a local kindergarten.