On Halloween Day, 22 Clubs and 46 Sentimental Pubs in Seoul Voluntarily Close

'85 Dancing Entertainment Venues Voluntarily Close'
Seoul City Conducts Intensive Inspections of All Entertainment Venues to Prevent Balloon Effect

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] On the 31st, during the Halloween period, 50% of clubs and over 70% of emotional pubs in Seoul voluntarily decided to close.

Park Yumi, Seoul City Quarantine Controller, said in a briefing on the morning of the 30th, "So far, 85 entertainment establishments where customers can dance, including 22 clubs, 46 emotional pubs, and 17 colatecs, have decided to voluntarily close and participate in quarantine efforts. We thank these establishments," and requested, "We ask more establishments to actively participate in closures."

Earlier, ahead of Halloween, the city has been conducting special inspections since the 28th targeting 153 dancing entertainment facilities. In seven entertainment districts densely populated with dancing venues, dedicated officials are stationed from midnight to 3 a.m. to conduct intensive on-site inspections, and if violations are found, 'immediate gathering bans' will be enforced.

Controller Park said, "To prevent a balloon effect where people move to clubs in other areas outside major dense districts like Gangnam and Itaewon or flock to similar entertainment facilities such as hunting pojangmacha, we will inspect all dancing entertainment facilities and similar venues throughout Seoul."

He continued, "We are now at a crossroads between heading toward a dangerous second wave or regaining the precious daily life that was slowly recovering under social distancing level 1," and urged, "To prevent Halloween from becoming a second Itaewon club mass infection case, citizens should use non-face-to-face, contactless gatherings instead of events or parties, and refrain from visiting multi-use facilities such as clubs, pubs, restaurants, cafes, and entertainment pubs."

Earlier, during joint inspections by Seoul City, the National Police Agency, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety from the 23rd to 25th of this month, 14 dancing entertainment facilities were found violating quarantine rules such as occupancy limits and distancing, and received administrative measures including gathering bans.

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