Supreme Court: "Arranging Entertainment by Dressing Male Guests in Women's Dresses and Procuring Lewd Acts"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court ruled that a nightclub operated by making male customers change into women's dresses and enjoy entertainment with female employees constitutes mediation of obscene acts.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Kim Sang-hwan) overturned the lower court's acquittal of nightclub owner A (36), who was indicted for violating the Act on the Regulation of Sexually Oriented Businesses, and remanded the case to the Chuncheon District Court on the 8th.

The court stated, "Forcing customers to change into women's dresses and then encouraging entertainment is an extremely unusual practice that cannot be regarded as a typical business method of a nightclub," adding, "It cannot simply be seen as a means to enjoy entertainment through singing and dancing."

It further pointed out, "Considering that the room where the male customers and female employees were together was a closed space, there is a strong possibility that this method was intended to dull normal sexual shame and consciously induce sexual arousal."

A was indicted in October 2015 for mediating obscene acts by making three male customers wear women's dresses and touch the bodies of female employees.

Investigations revealed that the customers were provided loose women's dresses similar in style to those worn by the female employees by A. They called these dresses 'couple looks.' Their business was caught during a police crackdown on nightclubs and brought to trial.

The first trial court found Kim guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 1 million won.

However, the second trial court acquitted him, stating, "Providing women's dresses to customers cannot be considered mediation of obscene acts. The dresses provided were merely tools to enhance the customers' entertainment."

At that time, the court also added, "The act of allowing customers to wear women's dresses and enjoy entertainment upon their request cannot be seen as an explicit method that exposes sexual parts or expresses sexual acts to the extent that it poses a socially harmful risk."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.