18 Caught at Gangnam Nightclub Operating Against Gathering Ban... Including Secret Passageway Found

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Employees and customers were caught in large numbers by the police at an unauthorized entertainment bar operating late at night in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, despite the gathering ban. A passage used to help customers escape was also discovered at the bar.

According to the police on the 25th, the Suseo Police Station in Seoul apprehended a total of 18 people, including two business owners, employees, and customers, at a basement level 1 bar in a building in Yeoksam-dong around 12:30 a.m. on the 22nd. The police notified the relevant district office of the list.

Although the bar was registered as a regular restaurant, it was actually operated as an entertainment bar. The business owners were booked on charges of violating the Food Sanitation Act. The police gathered intelligence that the bar was receiving customers late at night and, after inquiries in the surrounding area, caught the operation in progress and raided the site.

When the police crackdown began, the bar tried to escape some customers through an underground passage connected to the adjacent building but was caught. The police blocked the entrance to the neighboring building and traced back the passage to make arrests. They are investigating the circumstances under which this passage was created and used, and are considering whether to apply additional charges such as violations of the Building Act against the building owner.

Meanwhile, under the social distancing level 2 currently in effect in the metropolitan area, gatherings are banned at six types of entertainment facilities including entertainment bars, danran bars, emotional bars, colatecs, hunting pochas, and holdem pubs. This measure has been extended for three weeks and will be in effect until the 13th of next month.

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