◀ Anchor ▶
As a child, you must have used a lot of local public baths at the entrance of residential alleys.
Especially before the holidays, I had to go there once in a while.
However, in the aftermath of Corona 19, public baths are gradually disappearing into memories as the public fee increases.
Reporter Seo Chang-woo covered the story.
◀ Report ▶
A public bath that has been in place for over 50 years in this village where old houses are concentrated.
Now the light is off, the door is firmly shut, and the bath is empty.
It went out of business at the end of last year.
[구청 관계자]
“You can see it as a sales slump.”
The village elders who have been using this bathhouse for a long time are very sorry.
[남명줄/인근 주민]
“There are a lot of older people in this neighborhood. (The owner) is a local person, so I made (the rate) a bit cheaper. Now, since there is no place here, the older people go up there (to the bathhouse)…”
This public bathhouse, which has been open for 20 years in Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, has been cut in half by the corona crisis.
In the end, the bathing fee was raised by 1,000 won in 4 years, but the labor cost for the three gentlemen and the boiler operator and the fuel cost are not easy, so the owner is only sighing every day.
[서명밀/목욕탕 업주]
“Even if it is operated with groundwater, electricity, water, and gas costs are burdensome. Now (public utility bills) have risen by more than 20%, so I am grateful even if they do it at least as much as before.”
Since February 2020, 85 public baths in Gyeongnam alone and close to 1,000 public baths nationwide have been closed.
[한국목욕업중앙회 관계자]
“It changed to apartment culture, so it changed to a shower culture at home.
Due to the influence of social distancing after the corona, even the number of customers visiting the bathhouse has decreased drastically, and it is interpreted that the owners could not stand it any longer as public fees increased one after another, including three rises in gas rates last year alone.
However, the government is predicting a massive public fee hike this year as well, and public baths are increasingly pushed to the brink.
This is MBC News Seo Chang-woo.
Video coverage: Jang Seong-wook (Gyeongnam)
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