Room Cafes, Manga Cafes, Multi-Rooms... Daegu City Launches Massive Crackdown on Emerging and Mutated Youth Harmful Businesses

Inspection and Crackdown on 24 Busy Downtown Businesses Including Dense Dongseong-ro Area

Prior Guidance and Voluntary Improvements... Significant Enhancements in Private Rooms Concerned with Sexual Activities

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporters Kim Yong-woo and Gu Dae-sun] Daegu City has launched a large-scale crackdown on room cafes and other establishments identified as harmful to youth.

On the 15th, Daegu City, together with district and county offices, police, and the Youth Harmful Environment Monitoring Group, conducted special inspections and crackdowns on new and emerging youth harmful establishments such as room cafes and multi-rooms.

This crackdown targeted 24 establishments in the city, including room cafes, multi-rooms, and comic cafes, recently identified as new and emerging youth harmful businesses.

Before and after images of crackdowns on new types of youth harmful establishments.

The inspection focused on violations such as providing closed or confined spaces where physical contact or sexual acts could occur, prohibiting youth entry and employment, and failure to display signs banning youth entry and employment.

As a result of the crackdown, one comic cafe that failed to display a youth entry prohibition sign was ordered to make corrections, and two establishments with insufficient removal of harmful elements, such as having small transparent windows, were immediately instructed to make improvements.

Fourteen establishments voluntarily resolved harmful environments by installing transparent windows or removing doors, and seven were confirmed to have closed down.

Through prior guidance activities by district and county offices and a joint crackdown advanced by one month from the usual schedule, Daegu City aims to eliminate youth harmful factors in room cafes.

Unlike singing practice rooms or game rooms, which are regulated by law with facility standards such as the installation of transparent windows, room cafes are registered as general restaurants and lack specific facility standards, making enforcement difficult.

Frontline officials in charge of the crackdown unanimously stated, “It is urgent for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to establish and revise regulations on the criteria for determining violations.”

Jo Kyung-sun, Director of the Youth and Women’s Education Bureau of Daegu City, said, “We will continue to inspect and improve youth harmful environmental factors in room cafes and conduct frequent crackdowns on new and emerging youth harmful establishments to create an environment where youth can grow up healthily.”

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