'Quarantine Blind Spot' Illegal Entertainment Venues, Police Crackdown Nets 2,800 People in 5 Weeks

Photo evidence of a crackdown on illegal entertainment bars.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Police conducting inspections on illegal entertainment establishments, which are "blind spots" in quarantine measures, have caught more than 2,800 offenders violating quarantine rules over five weeks.

According to the National Police Agency on the 9th, from the 3rd of last month to the 8th of this month, police deployed 13,387 officers and jointly inspected 40,291 entertainment establishments nationwide with local governments over four weeks. During this process, 457 cases of illegal activities including quarantine guideline violations and 2,849 individuals were caught.

By type, there were 307 cases and 2,423 people violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act such as quarantine rule violations, 23 cases and 286 people violating the Food Sanitation Act, and 127 cases and 140 people violating the Music Industry Act.

Examples of violations include, in Seoul on the 4th at around 11 p.m., 37 people including the owner who operated an unlicensed entertainment bar by employing 20 entertainment workers at a general restaurant in Gangnam-gu were caught. On the 2nd at around 11:30 p.m., a singing practice room in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, was also caught operating secretly with the signboard lights off, with 17 people including the owner and customers apprehended.

Violations in non-metropolitan areas also continued. On the 2nd at around 1:30 a.m., an entertainment bar in Buk-gu, Busan, was caught operating secretly with the entrance door locked, with 14 people including the owner and customers caught by police. Additionally, 20 people were caught at an entertainment bar in Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk, which was also secretly operating with the signboard lights off.

The police plan to continue focused crackdowns on unlicensed entertainment bars converted from motels, re-operation of violating businesses, "expedition entertainment" near the metropolitan border areas, and entertainment establishments around tourist spots during the vacation season.

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