Court: "Manhwa Cafes Are Not Harmful to Educational Environment... Business Ban Is Unfair"

The photo is unrelated to the content of the text.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A court has ruled that a 'manhwa cafe' near an elementary school cannot be definitively classified as a facility harmful to the educational environment.

The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 7 (Chief Presiding Judge Kim Gukhyeon) ruled in favor of Mr. A, the owner of the manhwa cafe, in a lawsuit seeking cancellation of the prohibition order filed against the Seoul Western District Office of Education regarding the request to exclude the facility from prohibited acts within the educational environment protection zone. The court stated, "It cannot be definitively concluded that the plaintiff’s business negatively affects the learning and educational environment of the students at the school," and added, "It is reasonable to allow the business to continue."

The court emphasized, "Manhwa rental businesses cannot be deemed harmful by themselves, and in cases of certain manhwas involving violence or sexual content, they can be designated and publicly notified as youth-harmful media and regulated separately." It further noted, "Consideration should also be given to the fact that Mr. A removed all adult manhwas from the cafe and eliminated curtains or blinds."

The court also cited the fact that manhwa rental businesses were excluded from adult entertainment businesses in 1999 as a basis for its judgment. The court stated, "There is no basis to consider manhwa or manhwa rental businesses inherently harmful," and ruled, "Only some manhwas involving violence or sexual content are harmful, and these can be sufficiently regulated separately."

Previously, since October 2017, Mr. A had been operating a manhwa cafe on the fourth floor of a commercial building approximately 100 meters in a straight line from an elementary school in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Following a complaint in 2018, the Western District Office of Education investigated and confirmed that Mr. A’s bookstore was located 103 meters from the school boundary and 147 meters from the entrance, and immediately demanded relocation, closure, or business conversion.

Mr. A requested that the manhwa cafe be excluded from prohibited facilities, but the Western District Office of Education denied the request, stating it negatively affected learning and the educational environment. Subsequently, Mr. A filed administrative appeals and lawsuits, all of which were dismissed, and then filed this administrative lawsuit with the company as the plaintiff rather than as an individual.

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