Seoul capsule hotel blaze exposes fire safety blind spots ahead of BTS show

A fire breaks out on the third floor of a seven-story building in Sogong-dong, Jung District, central Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

A Saturday fire that injured 10 people at a Seoul capsule hotel has exposed a critical weakness in Korea's fire safety laws, revealing how regulatory gaps leave hundreds of foreign tourists in sleeping pods vulnerable to fire — a hidden crisis that has prompted citywide emergency inspections ahead of an upcoming BTS concert.

With safety concerns mounting ahead of the K-pop group's comeback performance on Saturday, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced it will conduct emergency safety inspections of 5,481 accommodation facilities by Thursday. The targeted sweep includes 4,904 urban bed-and-breakfasts, 381 traditional hanok guesthouses and 151 lodging facilities in the Jongno and Jung districts.

The recent blaze at the Sogong-dong facility underscored the extreme danger of the city's self-registration system. The hotel operated on the third and sixth floors of a seven-story building, registering only seven rooms with the government. However, reservations for the day of the fire reached 124 people — 65 on the third floor and 59 on the sixth floor.

Freestanding bunk-style pods occupy a room at a capsule hotel in Seoul's Jongno District, Monday. The facility features corridors so narrow that they can barely accommodate a single person. Korea Times photo by Kim Jun-hyung

Capsule hotels surged in Seoul from 2024, driven by a recovery in international tourism. Despite the dense concentration of guests, the facilities are classified simply as "general accommodation businesses" under the Public Health Control Act. The law requires owners to submit only the number of rooms, an electrical safety certificate and disaster liability insurance. The government imposes no capacity limit.

A district official said the basic reporting system makes it impossible for authorities to determine from the outside whether a facility houses dozens or hundreds of guests. The official added that the Sogong-dong location initially installed standard beds before shifting to bunk-style pods — a structural change authorities had no way of tracking.

A Hankook Ilbo visit to three Myeong-dong capsule hotels on Sunday and Monday revealed severe physical fire hazards. To maximize limited space, the facilities feature a honeycomb-like arrangement of bed-sized sleeping pods measuring just one meter wide and one meter high, typically stacked in one or two tiers. Guests must navigate cramped corridors measuring just 60 to 70 centimeters wide.

"The emergency exit is so narrow that it seems difficult for multiple people to get out in an urgent situation," said Sky, 22, a traveler from the Philippines.

The facilities lacked sprinkler systems, benefiting from a retroactive exemption that excuses buildings completed before 2000 from mandatory fire equipment requirements. South Korea mandated sprinklers for buildings with six or more stories in 2018 and expanded the rule to facilities of 600 square meters or more in 2022, but older buildings remain exempt.

"Despite government support programs, most owners avoid installing sprinklers due to maintenance costs and the need to suspend business operations during construction," said Lee Young-ju, a professor of fire and disaster protection at Kyungil University. "We need measures to hold owners more accountable."

Further compounding the danger, the internal stairs at the Sogong-dong hotel lacked smoke-blocking doors, forcing fleeing guests to rely on an outdoor emergency staircase. However, that escape route is blocked by outdoor air conditioning units — a direct violation of fire safety laws.

Air conditioning units and equipment clutter an outdoor emergency staircase behind a capsule hotel in Jung District, Seoul. Guests at the facility, where a fire broke out on Saturday, reported that the obstructions hindered their evacuation. Korea Times photo by Lee Jae-myeong

Experts point out that the current regulations must be overhauled. Gong Ha-seong, a professor of fire and disaster protection at Woosuk University, said managing capsule hotels under a special law as a new type of facility would minimize side effects. "Designating them as multiuse businesses is also an option," he said.

Hong Sung-yong, chair of the Seoul Architecture Forum, said authorities must establish a management system capable of suspending operations through regular fire inspections. "Facility safety responsibilities should be placed on building owners as well as business owners," he said.

Travel booking apps show over 30 capsule hotels currently operating across central Seoul. Most operate in repurposed office buildings or by placing freestanding sleeping pods into individual multifamily housing units across one or two floors of existing older buildings.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.