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[Herald Economy = Reporter Park Byung-guk] A fire broke out at a capsule hotel in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, ahead of BTS’s comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square, injuring foreign guests. The incident has renewed calls for regulatory reform of small lodging facilities such as capsule hotels, which are not required to install sprinklers and are excluded from routine fire inspections.
As Herald Economy reported on the 17th, the capsule hotel’s floor area was 291㎡ (about 3,132 sq ft), so under current law—which requires sprinklers only for buildings with a floor area of 300㎡ (about 3,229 sq ft) or more—no sprinkler installation was mandated. Capsule hotels are composed of stacked, honeycomb-like sleeping capsules, each containing a bed. Originating in Japan, they began appearing in Seoul neighborhoods such as Euljiro, Myeong-dong and Dongdaemun from 2015 onward. The Act on the Installation and Management of Fire-Fighting Facilities expanded mandatory coverage in 2018 from buildings of 11 floors or more to lodging facilities of six floors or more. In December 2022, the law made full sprinkler systems mandatory for buildings with a total floor area of 600㎡ (about 6,458 sq ft) or more and required simplified sprinkler systems for buildings between 300㎡ (about 3,229 sq ft) and 600㎡ (about 6,458 sq ft). Because the operator was not legally obligated to install sprinklers, the capsule hotel also fell outside the fire department’s regular inspection program.
Solo travel has surged and small lodging options have multiplied, but regulations have not kept pace. According to the Seoul metropolitan government, the number of lodging businesses in the city rose from 1,995 at the end of 2016 to 2,576 as of Jan. 1 this year, driven largely by small formats such as capsule hotels and Airbnb listings. Building registry records show that the building where the fire occurred converted its third floor from office use to general lodging on May 3, 2024; converted its sixth floor to general lodging in December 2024; and was reclassified as tourist lodging in September 2025 before registering as a lodging business and opening.
Capsule-style lodgings have also proliferated. Of the 62 capsule hotels identified by the city, 25 are clustered in the city center (19 in Jung-gu and 6 in Jongno-gu). Seoul officials estimate many of these facilities are under 300㎡ and therefore sit in a fire-safety blind spot. From today, the city has launched a full inspection of all 62 locations in cooperation with the fire department and district offices.
Another concern officials highlight is that small lodgings are not subject to any cap on the number of rooms. Under the Enforcement Rules of the Public Health Control Act, a lodging need only have separate compartments; there is no upper limit on room counts. As a result, operators can subdivide spaces into dozens of rooms even in buildings under 300㎡, which increases the risk of mass casualties in a fire. In this case, 10 guests of Japanese nationality were injured, and one woman in her 50s remains unconscious.
Seoul officials moved quickly to craft emergency measures. On the 16th, Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited the site and said, “Seoul takes this incident very seriously. We will closely review with relevant agencies the need to strengthen fire-suppression systems at densely packed lodgings where evacuation can be difficult.” He added the city will consider measures to boost initial response—such as supporting the installation of simplified sprinklers and automatic dispersal extinguishers—while conducting comprehensive safety checks with the fire department and district offices to develop effective improvements and work closely with the central government on regulatory changes.
Gong Ha-seong, a professor of fire and disaster prevention at Woosuk University, urged authorities to not only consider mandatory sprinkler installation but also to conduct thorough checks of multilingual guidance systems for foreign guests and the availability of outdoor evacuation routes.
Police estimate that up to 260,000 people, including ARMY members from around the world, could gather at Gwanghwamun Square for the concert on the 21st, making urgent countermeasures critical.
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