"635 Cases and 4,122 People Caught at Illegal Entertainment Venues in 'Quarantine Blind Spots' Over 7 Weeks"

Unlicensed entertainment bar crackdown site.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Despite the '4th wave' of COVID-19 with around 2,000 new confirmed cases daily, illegal operations of entertainment establishments continue.

According to the National Police Agency on the 23rd, the police deployed 24,935 officers over seven weeks from the 3rd of last month to the 22nd of this month, conducting joint inspections with local governments on 56,699 entertainment venues nationwide. During this process, they cracked down on 635 illegal acts involving 4,122 people, including violations of quarantine guidelines.

By type, there were 433 cases involving 3,564 people violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act such as breach of quarantine rules, 30 cases involving 370 people violating the Food Sanitation Act, and 172 cases involving 188 people violating the Music Industry Act.

In Seoul, a two-day intensive crackdown was conducted on the 19th and 20th, resulting in 53 cases involving 359 people violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and others. At an entertainment bar in Gangnam-gu, 93 people including the owner and customers were caught operating secretly with the signboard lights turned off. In Busan, at around 10:35 p.m. on the 18th, 17 people including the owner were caught operating without a license at a general restaurant in Haeundae-gu after employing six entertainment workers.

The police plan to continue focused crackdowns on unlicensed entertainment bars converted from motels, reoperation of violating businesses, 'expedition entertainment' in metropolitan border areas, and entertainment facilities around tourist spots during the vacation season.

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