98 People Caught Again at Entertainment Venue Building Previously Penalized for 'Late-Night Operation Restrictions' Violation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Employees and customers conducting covert late-night operations were caught in large numbers by the police at an entertainment venue in Gangnam, Seoul, where 135 people were previously caught violating business restrictions by operating late at night.

According to the police on the 31st, the Gangnam Police Station apprehended 98 people, including employees and customers, at an entertainment company's practice room on the 5th floor of a building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, at around 11:58 PM the previous day. The police plan to hand over the list of names to the local district office.

Earlier, on the 24th, 135 employees and customers were caught by the police for staying past the business restriction time of 10 PM at a basement-level entertainment venue in the same building.

On the 30th, at around 10:58 PM, the police received a report stating "a customer and a hostess are hitting and fighting," and with the cooperation of the fire department, they first opened the door of the basement pub but found no one inside. Subsequently, after receiving an additional report that "the pub is still operating," they searched the same building and caught 98 employees and customers on the 5th floor.

The police plan to notify the local district office of these individuals for violating business restrictions and the ban on gatherings of five or more people, among other quarantine rules. The entertainment venue where 135 people were caught had already been issued a 10-day administrative order to prohibit gatherings due to the previous crackdown. A Gangnam district office official stated, "If it is determined that the same venue was caught again, we will impose a 20-day gathering ban order and strengthened measures such as fines," adding, "If the operation in the practice room is confirmed as running an unlicensed entertainment venue, we will file a complaint with the police for violations of the Food Sanitation Act and other laws."

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