"No Nighttime Drinking or Eating" Convenience Store That Was Bustling Becomes Quiet in a Day

Seoul City Announces Crackdown After 9 PM
Outdoor Tables Removed and Notices Posted
Disputes Between Staff and Customers

Confusion Over Unilateral Measures and Ambiguous Standards
Exemptions Apply to 4,000 Locations
Fines Up to 3 Million KRW for Business Owners
Up to 100,000 KRW Penalty for Users

After Seoul City conducted on-site inspections of eating and drinking at convenience store outdoor tables after 9 p.m., the appearance of convenience stores changed within a day. The top photo shows a convenience store in Dongdaemun-gu bustling with customers at outdoor tables at 10 p.m. on the 31st of last month, and the bottom photo shows the same store on the 1st with outdoor tables flipped over to prevent customer access. Photo by XXX

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] On the evening of the 1st, a small commotion broke out in front of a convenience store near Kyung Hee University in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, as the clock struck 9 PM. The convenience store employee asked customers sitting at the outdoor tables to leave, but some intoxicated customers stubbornly remained seated. After more than 10 minutes of persuasion, with the employee warning, "If the authorities come, you will have to pay a fine," the customers finally left.

That day, Seoul City announced enforcement measures against eating and drinking inside convenience stores or at outdoor tables after 9 PM, in accordance with the strengthened Level 2 social distancing rules. The scene in front of convenience stores, where groups had gathered for drinking parties overnight, changed completely.

After checking five convenience stores near Kyung Hee University after 9 PM, all places with outdoor tables had either removed the tables or posted notices to prevent customers from sitting. Some even flipped the tables upside down to completely block customer access. These convenience stores had been crowded the previous day with customers drinking at outdoor tables.

Although Seoul City's measures brought significant changes on the ground, there were also reactions expressing confusion. The convenience stores subject to enforcement are those that sell prepared foods like chicken or have coffee machines installed and are registered as rest food establishments. However, Seoul City explained that actions such as heating food with a microwave inside the store or pouring hot water into cup noodles are not considered illegal, making the criteria ambiguous.

Among the approximately 13,000 convenience stores in Seoul, about 4,000 are not classified as rest food establishments and are thus excluded from enforcement. Across the metropolitan area where the strengthened Level 2 social distancing is applied, it is known that about 10,000 stores are not subject to enforcement. Since local governments differ in whether they enforce these rules, convenience store owners are also confused.

It is also problematic that convenience store owners or employees find it difficult to restrain customers' behavior. Many customers freely open folded parasols or are intoxicated to the point where communication is difficult. Most convenience stores have only one employee working, making it hard to handle both transactions and external enforcement simultaneously.

At 9 p.m. on the 1st, a convenience store employee in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, is asking customers sitting at outdoor tables to get up.

Park Jaeyoung (38, pseudonym), who runs a convenience store in Dongdaemun-gu, said, "Among the night shift part-timers, there are foreign friends who are still not fluent in Korean, so I worry whether they can explain the changed measures to customers." He added, "There are customers who squat in front of the convenience store drinking beer without sitting at the tables, and it is also difficult to know how to handle such cases."

The convenience store headquarters expressed bewilderment at Seoul City's unilateral measures. An industry insider said, "Seoul City sent only a brief official letter without specific details just one day before the enforcement." They explained, "If Seoul City had had sufficient discussions with the convenience store headquarters in advance, cooperation with the city's measures could have been smoother."

Meanwhile, Seoul City plans to verify compliance through on-site inspections of the ban on eating and drinking at convenience stores at night under the convenience store gathering restriction order. As a measure to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), violators may face fines of up to 3 million KRW for business owners under the 'Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act,' and users may be fined up to 100,000 KRW.

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