Chinese social media posts on May 24 showed tourists at Incheon Airport using nursing rooms to access free hot water for instant noodles, as convenience stores reportedly lack hot water facilities [1, 2]. These nursing rooms are intended only for pregnant women and caregivers with children under 3 years old, for feeding and formula preparation [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The airport’s signs and regulations explicitly forbid eating, drinking, and sleeping inside the nursing rooms [3, 4, 5].
Some tourists have been stopped by airport staff when trying to use the nursing rooms for hot water. One anonymous user said, "I thought eating was the only thing prohibited, but they wouldn’t even let me get hot water" [1]. The misuse has led to hygiene issues, including leftover instant noodle soup and improper waste disposal, which concerns parents and other users [3].
Parents and caregivers expressed strong backlash online against tourists using the facilities for purposes other than their intended use [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. South Korean netizens criticized foreigners for lacking public morality and called for stricter monitoring and penalties to prevent misuse [3, 4, 5]. Some have suggested limiting nursing room access exclusively to eligible users and imposing fines for violations [3, 4, 5].
After the controversy grew, many related posts on Chinese social media disappeared, and some users urged others not to shame their country [5]. The airport continues to enforce rules forbidding eating and drinking in nursing rooms in response to the complaints [3].
