Despite Repeated Prohibitions... 'Baetjaera' Operating Entertainment Bars

Photo by Seoul Seocho Police Station

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Entertainment bars that were previously caught violating gathering ban orders but resumed operations have been repeatedly caught by the police. They seem to think that the benefits gained from illegal operations outweigh the penalties received when caught.

According to the police on the 11th, the Seocho Police Station in Seoul caught 53 people, including the owner Mr. Shin in his 50s, 30 employees, and 22 customers, operating illegally at an entertainment bar located in the basement level 1 of a building in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, at around 10:20 PM on the 7th. This establishment had already been caught twice for violating the gathering ban.

The establishment operated by admitting reserved customers through a membership system, allowing them to enjoy entertainment by drinking with hostesses. It was investigated that customers were secretly brought into the parking lot through long-distance pickups.

In Gangnam-gu, an entertainment business that had been caught twice this year for violating gathering ban orders was raided by the police while operating illegally. The Suseo Police Station, in cooperation with the district office, conducted a raid and caught 19 people, including the owner Mr. Heo, 15 employees, and 3 customers, at an entertainment bar located in the basement of a building in Yeoksam-dong at around 11 PM on the 7th.

The illegal operation of the establishment was uncovered after a woman who tested positive for COVID-19 stated during an epidemiological investigation that she had visited the entertainment bar.

In Busan, a karaoke bar that had been previously caught violating the gathering ban was again caught by the police.

At around 2:40 AM on July 30th, the police received a 112 report stating that a karaoke bar was operating illegally. They raided the establishment and caught a total of 17 people, including employees and 15 customers, on charges of violating the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act. It was confirmed that this karaoke bar had also been caught on the evening of July 25th for secretly operating with 11 customers while locking the entrance door.

Meanwhile, according to the National Police Agency, from July 3rd to the 5th of this month, over a period of 9 weeks, 30,262 police officers were deployed nationwide in cooperation with local governments to inspect 70,079 entertainment facilities. Through this, they cracked down on 768 illegal acts and 5,128 people violating quarantine guidelines. By type, there were 531 cases and 4,494 people violating the Infectious Disease Prevention Act such as gathering bans, 32 cases and 411 people violating the Food Sanitation Act, and 205 cases and 223 people violating the Music Industry Act.

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