Despite Strengthened Social Distancing, 'Illegal Entertainment Venues' Continue Operating... Police Conduct Repeated Crackdowns

413 Caught in One Week... 60% Increase Compared to Jeonju
Crackdown on Unauthorized and Secret Operations Intensified

Around 10 p.m. on the 23rd, a nightlife bar in Cheonan, Chungnam was caught by the police for secretly operating while soliciting customers.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] As the phased return to normal life (With Corona) has been halted and social distancing measures have been strengthened, the detection of illegal entertainment establishments has sharply increased.

According to the National Police Agency on the 27th, the police, in cooperation with local governments and quarantine authorities, cracked down on 36 illegal entertainment establishments and apprehended 413 people during the week from the 20th to the 26th of this month. Compared to the 253 people caught in the previous week (13th to 19th), the number of those apprehended increased by more than 60%.

By type, violations of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, including breaches of quarantine rules, accounted for the largest number with 32 cases involving 408 people, followed by 2 cases involving 3 people violating the Food Sanitation Act, and 2 cases involving 2 people violating the Music Industry Act.

At around 10:30 p.m. on the 22nd, a general restaurant located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was operating without a license by employing 10 entertainment workers, resulting in the crackdown of 42 people including the owner and employees. Additionally, at 4:05 a.m. on the 23rd, an entertainment bar in Jeju-si was caught secretly operating for reserved customers after locking its doors, with 44 people including the owner apprehended.

Since the start of the '4th wave' in July, the police have continued special crackdowns on illegal entertainment establishments. The total number of cases detected so far amounts to 1,512 cases involving 11,626 people.

The National Police Agency stated, "As cluster infections of COVID-19 originating from entertainment establishments are emerging during the year-end and New Year period, we will proactively respond to illegal operations in cooperation with local governments," adding, "We will focus on cracking down on reoperations by violating businesses and unlicensed operations, and enhance the effectiveness of crackdowns by strengthening prior intelligence gathering."

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