“A woman in sunglasses enters the bathing area and starts snapping photos”... Foreign tourists at a jjimjilbang grin even as police arrive

[Financial News] At a famous jjimjilbang in Haeundae, Busan, foreign tourists wearing hijabs took photos of the bathing area with their phones, prompting police to respond.

According to News 1 on the 10th, a woman recently posted on the social networking service (SNS) Threads about an absurd experience she had after visiting a jjimjilbang in Haeundae, Busan.
A said, “I just went to a jjimjil spa and called the police,” adding, “I worked until 4 p.m. even on my day off. It was raining, and I thought I might at least warm up in a hot bath, so I went to a famous jjimjilbang on Dalmaji Hill in Haeundae that everyone in the know has heard of.”
Many foreign tourists were reportedly at the jjimjilbang at the time to experience Korean bathing culture.
The trouble came afterward. A said, “I’d sweated it out, gone into the bath and washed, and was about to leave when people with their heads tightly wrapped in hijabs and wearing sunglasses came into the bath and started taking pictures.”
Alarmed, A quickly rinsed off, got dressed, told the front desk what had happened, and called the police.

There were reportedly four foreign visitors who took photos inside the bathhouse. A and a jjimjilbang employee found them and brought them to the lobby, then demanded that they delete all the photos taken in the bathhouse while they waited for the police.
However, one person in the group who could speak some Korean reportedly denied having taken any photos and told them not to check the phone without permission.
The photo A shared showed four foreign women wearing towels folded into sheep-head shapes, sitting side by side on a sofa in the jjimjilbang lobby as a police officer spoke to them.
A said, “They kept insisting they hadn’t taken any photos, but when the police checked the phone, photos taken inside the bath turned up. Fortunately, there were no photos that directly captured anyone else naked, but I felt so uncomfortable and scared.”
A also criticized the responding officers’ handling of the incident as inappropriate.
A said the police sat the foreign visitors down and explained kindly, “You were really startled, weren’t you? You can’t take photos inside the bath,” and claimed that even then, the visitors were sitting side by side laughing as if they had no idea how serious the matter was.
Upset by this, A protested to the officers, saying, “These people don’t understand how serious the situation is. Please give them a stern warning.”
A said, “They came into the bath with their whole bodies covered in hijabs and clothes, even wearing sunglasses, and took photos of people who had undressed and were bathing. I’m still furious. I don’t think I’ll be able to go to a jjimjilbang again.”
[email protected] Ahn Ga-eul Reporter