Hey, that's not a candy bar: Human feces found floating in public pool twice in 10 days
Published: 28 Jul. 2025, 21:35
![The Yeongju indoor swimming pool in North Gyeongsang [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/07/28/5c25194b-ae51-4f78-8e64-93a58c6a84d8.jpg)
The Yeongju indoor swimming pool in North Gyeongsang [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Suspected human waste was found on two separate occasions this month at a city-run indoor swimming pool in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang. A third of the 700-ton water volume has been replaced and disinfected.
A complaint was filed around 9 a.m. last Friday reporting an unidentified foreign substance — believed to be human feces — floating in one of the lanes at the indoor pool in Gaheung-dong, according to the Yeongju city government on Monday. About 20 people were using the lane at the time.
City officials immediately suspended operations and replaced roughly one-third of the 700-ton pool water by 3 p.m. on Friday. The water was also disinfected. Yeongju said it maintains water quality through a 24-hour filtration system.
A similar incident occurred 10 days earlier, at around 4:30 p.m. on July 15. In that case, the city also replaced one-third of the pool water. Following continued public criticism, officials drained and refilled the entire 700-ton pool over three days, starting on July 19.
Although closed-circuit cameras are installed inside the facility, they do not capture activity beneath the water’s surface, making it challenging to identify the individual responsible.
City officials said that under Articles 7 and 8 of Yeongju’s public sports facilities ordinance, anyone caught engaging in such behavior could face bans from entering or using the facility.
“We are planning to introduce new measures to prevent this from happening again," said a pool official.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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