Video of foreigners jumping from Seoul's Banpo Bridge into Han River sparks debate

A video circulating online shows several foreign men climbing onto the railing of Banpo Bridge in Seoul and jumping one after another into the Han River, drawing controversy in South Korea. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

The video was posted on social media on Oct. 3 under a title referring to what happened as more foreigners came to the Han River, Asia Economy reported. The outlet said the footage shows the men, after sunset, looking around on the bridge railing and then jumping in turn without any safety equipment, and swimming off after entering the water. No accident or rescue operation appears in the video, the report said. [ 2 ]

Reaction online was divided. Some netizens said rescue crews would have to be dispatched if something went wrong and that a rescue gap could open during other emergencies, while others said the men were simply swimming or diving and that no accident had occurred. “Diving off a Han River bridge should be cracked down on. Because of people doing it for fun, police and paramedics have to be dispatched — a waste of manpower,” one netizen said, according to CBS NoCut News. Others asked whether jumpers know what structures lie under the water and warned that a fatal accident would harm many people. [ 2 , 3 ]

There is no rule that prohibits or punishes jumping or entering the Han River from a bridge, CBS NoCut News reported. An official at the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Future Han River Headquarters told the outlet that jumping into the Han River cannot be legally punished and that only guidance is possible, adding that public safety officers on patrol give verbal guidance because people often enter the river. The official said police and fire services are dispatched when a report of entry into the water comes in, and stressed that entering the Han River is dangerous. [ 3 ]

Seoul has been running a joint crackdown with police on illegal water leisure activity from April to October this year in response to rising traffic and leisure use on the river, checking for activity in prohibited or dangerous zones, missing life jackets and unlicensed or drunk operation. In Banpo Han River Park, some sections upstream of Sebitseom and downstream of Banpo pier are designated as no-power-watercraft zones, Asia Economy reported, adding that the river is shared by cruise ships, Han River buses and leisure craft. The city also operates a water safety situation room. [ 2 ]

Asia Economy said the published video alone did not establish the men's identities or nationalities, how they came to be on the bridge railing, or whether police or other authorities intervened at the scene. [ 2 ]