Police Conduct Special Crackdown on Illegal Entertainment Venues in 'Quarantine Blind Spots'... 1,465 People Caught in 2 Weeks

Kim Chang-ryong, Commissioner of the National Police Agency (center), is inspecting compliance with quarantine rules on-site by visiting the Hongdae club district and karaoke rooms in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by National Police Agency]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Police conducting inspections on illegal entertainment facilities, which are "blind spots" in quarantine measures, have caught more than 1,400 offenders violating quarantine rules over two weeks.

According to the National Police Agency on the 12th, from the 3rd to the 18th of this month, police deployed 6,320 officers and jointly inspected 16,573 entertainment facilities nationwide with local governments. During this process, they cracked down on 215 illegal acts involving 1,465 people, including violations of quarantine guidelines.

By type, there were 137 cases involving 1,238 people violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, 11 cases involving 153 people violating the Food Sanitation Act, and 67 cases involving 74 people violating the Music Industry Act.

In Seoul, around 11 p.m. on the 12th, 46 people including business owners and customers were caught at an entertainment bar in Gangnam-gu that locked its doors and operated only for reserved customers. In Busan, on the 17th at around 11:30 p.m., 20 people including business owners and customers were also caught operating in a similar manner.

Additionally, at around 9:30 p.m. on the 15th, five people including a business owner who employed illegal immigrants, failed to prepare electronic entry logs, and operated an unregistered employment agency were caught by police at an entertainment bar in Buk-gu, Ulsan. On the 17th at around 9:50 p.m., 27 people including business owners were caught operating an unlicensed entertainment bar targeting customers recruited through social networking service (SNS) advertisements at a lodging facility in Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do.

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