Dobong-gu opens themed cooling shelter at district office

Seoul's Dobong-gu has set up a summer cooling shelter inside its district office to help residents beat the heat safely.

The district said it began operating a themed cooling shelter on the first and second floors of the district office building on June 22.

Along with the district office, the district will also run a total of 163 cooling shelters through the end of September at locations across the area — 14 community service centers, 127 senior centers, 8 welfare centers, and the Ssangridangil Platform Modu-on.

The first floor has been arranged as an open lounge where any resident can drop in and rest, while the second floor repurposes an existing seminar room into themed zones. Those zones are organized around healing, relaxation and play, catering to a wide range of ages and purposes.

The cooling shelters will operate daily, including weekends and public holidays, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Sept. 30.

"We will do our best to ensure that any resident can come here and rest comfortably," a district official said.

The Dobong-gu themed cooling shelter, first introduced in 2023, has established itself as an urban retreat for residents during the summer months. Visitor numbers have grown each year, with cumulative attendance reaching 10,000 last year.