Breath-hold diving is an increasingly popular recreational pursuit in South Korea, with training courses and dives for certified freedivers organised by dive-centres, and international competitions hosted at popular sites.
Now the unnamed owner of one sdive-centre has been sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment for allowing a customer to go freediving unaccompanied – an action deemed to have resulted in his death.
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A “first-instance court ruling” determined that the appropriate charge would be one of negligent homicide because the owner, referred to only as A, was said to have disregarded safety regulations stipulating that even certified freedivers should always dive in pairs to prevent accidents.
Announcing the sentence on 7 May, the country’s largest court Seoul Central District stated that B, a man in his 40s and a qualified freediver, had suffered an accident while diving alone in March 2023. The case was reported by Chosun Media.
Also read: 3 divers ‘pass out simultaneously’ in Korea
No problem
On the day of his death, B was stated to have called the centre’s owner prior to his arrival to ask if he would be able to dive if he turned up alone. The owner had told B that this would present no problem because he would be able to dive with another guest diver already at the site, and that a diving instructor would also be present.
In the event, for whatever reason A was said not to have provided a buddy for B, and he had begun diving alone. After about 10 minutes another diver had seen him suffer an apparent blackout, and alerted the owner.
B was recovered from the water still breathing and transferred to hospital, but he died two months later from septic shock. This can occur when sepsis – organ disfunction in response to a bacterial infection – lowers blood pressure and causes metabolic abnormalities.
The court ruled that the owner had an obligation to ensure that all dive-centre users entered the water with a buddy, and to pair up anyone arriving alone.
“Since A informed B that it was OK to visit alone, it is clear that A violated their duty of care,” stated Judge Heo Seo-yoon. “There is a significant causal relationship between B’s death and A’s negligence in their duties.”
Also on Divernet: Two inquests highlight solo-diving dangers, Dead freediver wanted to ‘grab handful of sand’, Buoyed freediver survives boat separation
