Gyeongnam Provincial Special Judicial Police Crack Down on Numerous Adults Encouraging Juvenile Delinquency

Request for Stockings Worn After Proxy Purchase of Alcohol and Cigarettes

The special judicial police of Gyeongnam Province have consecutively caught businesses and individuals who not only failed to protect youth from harmful environments but rather encouraged delinquency and misconduct.

The provincial special judicial police announced on the 11th that, as a result of a planned crackdown on harmful environments for youth during the summer vacation from August to September, they detected seven violations of the Youth Protection Act.

According to the provincial special judicial police, this planned crackdown was conducted to inspect harmful establishments such as room cafes and to improve harmful environments including proxy purchases of alcohol and cigarettes.

The types of violations were ▲ three cases of failure to display youth entry prohibition signs at room cafes, which are establishments where youth entry and employment are prohibited ▲ one case of youth entry violation at a karaoke practice room ▲ two cases of proxy purchase and provision of alcohol and cigarettes ▲ one case of violation in the method of displaying tobacco sales prohibition signs at an electronic cigarette retail store.

Under current law, violations such as youth entry prohibition breaches, failure to display youth entry prohibition signs, and proxy purchase or provision of harmful substances like alcohol and cigarettes can result in imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won.

The interior of a private room cafe.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

The three room cafes caught were establishments with enclosed indoor spaces furnished with mattresses and sofas, equipped with TV facilities allowing unlimited viewing of Netflix, YouTube, and other content. Although these were establishments where youth entry and employment were prohibited, they did not display youth entry restriction signs.

They also operated from 11 a.m. to around 10 p.m., allowing unlimited access to youth during these hours.

The karaoke practice room had a youth room installed in a visible location where youth could enter from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., but the detected location had installed the youth room not according to standards and operated unmanned, allowing middle school girls to enter even after 10 p.m.

The electronic cigarette retail store had received administrative guidance multiple times but still failed to properly display the “No tobacco sales to youth under 19” sign according to regulations.

A display shelf of a store that violated the prohibition on selling tobacco to adolescents.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

During this planned crackdown, an adult who purchased alcohol and cigarettes on behalf of youth for a fee through social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter was caught.

The apprehended seller, Mr. A, continuously contacted middle school students and frequently provided them with alcohol and cigarettes.

On another proxy purchase occasion, he asked a person who identified herself as a high school girl to give him worn stockings and socks instead of a proxy purchase fee.

The provincial special judicial police plan to send Mr. A to the prosecution on charges of violating the Youth Protection Act.

Kim Eun-nam, head of the Social Disaster Division, said, “Adults who should guide the proper growth of youth instead encouraging youth delinquency and misconduct are committing crimes that must be eradicated.” He added, “We plan to investigate strictly with a zero-tolerance policy and will continue to expand crackdowns and investigations on harmful establishments for youth.”

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