Korea Life Saving Association joins ILS

At the Board of Directors Meeting in Porto the Korea Life Saving Association was accepted as a Full Member of ILS.


At the Board of Directors Meeting in Porto the Korea Life Saving Association was accepted as a Full Member of ILS.

The Korea Life Saving Association was established in 1997 as the Lifesaving on the Water Association. In 1999, it was registered as an affiliated group of the Korean Association of Sport For All.

In 2003 it was authorized by the National Maritime Police Agency as an education group with the right to approve qualifications of water lifeguards according to the Law of Water Leisure Safety. In 2005 it was authorized by the National Maritime Police Agency as an education group with the right to approve qualifications for rafting safety guides.

In December 2005 the name was changed to the Korea Lifesaving Association, it was approved as a corporation and it changed from an affiliated group to a full membership group of the Korean Association of Sport For All. KLS continues to actively educate water lifeguards and rafting safety agents. KLS also operates education and training for scuba divers and instructors. KLS has trained special instructors and paramedics who are experts in emergency treatment and CPR. KLS also has a business agreement with the Emergency Medical Technician Association.

KLS currently offers education and certificates in water lifeguard education, rafting safety agent education, scuba diver education, paramedics and CPR, safety instructors of Sport For All (on the water, in the water, skiing, and mountain safety), social safety instructor education (disaster relief, social safety) and teen’s safety experience education.

KLS has Local Associations nationwide that offer the same types of education. It also offers various certificate courses for college students nationwide.

In Korea, lifesaving education was previously considered to be only for safety agents, not something to be pursued as a leisure sport. Therefore KLS hopes to qualify as a branch office of the ILS and put a lot of effort into making lifesaving considered a sport. In light of the fact that nowadays all the training to be a water lifeguard in Korea is focused on unequipped swimming, KLS actively introduces the ILS’s advanced techniques and equipment and tries hard to spread its practical lifesaving education methods.