Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 32 Illegal Lodging Establishments

The Special Judicial Police Unit of Gyeonggi Province has uncovered 32 illegal lodging establishments.

Gyeonggi Province has uncovered 32 illegal lodging businesses operating in officetels, houses, and apartments without lodging business registration.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police announced on the 18th that from May 13 to 31, they conducted crackdowns on lodging establishments suspected of illegal operations in 12 areas including Suwon, Bucheon, Seongnam, and Goyang, uncovering 32 unregistered businesses operating 89 rooms.

By type, there were ▲24 officetels ▲6 houses ▲1 apartment ▲1 dormitory.

This crackdown focused on businesses that rented officetels, apartments, and multi-family houses and operated them as lodging facilities by exploiting the characteristic of shared lodging platforms that do not disclose exact locations.

In a key case, Business A rented a total of 6 rooms, including 2 officetel rooms in Hwaseong City and 4 officetel rooms in Suwon City, illegally operating lodging services and generating illegal sales of 83 million KRW over 1 year and 6 months.

Business B in Anyang City operated 4 rooms in a detached house for 5 years, earning 150 million KRW in sales before being caught. Business C in Paju City operated 2 officetel rooms for 3 years, generating 100 million KRW in sales before being caught in the crackdown.

These businesses operated lodging services without registering with the competent authorities, gaining unfair profits.

The Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police will request administrative actions from the relevant local governments and refer the cases to the prosecution, taking strict measures according to related laws. The detected businesses face penalties under the Public Health Control Act, including imprisonment of up to 2 years or fines up to 20 million KRW.

Hong Eun-gi, head of the Special Judicial Police in the province, stated, "Illegal lodging businesses operated through shared lodging platforms can be easily booked and used by anyone, but they exist in blind spots regarding safety and hygiene, putting guests at great risk in case of accidents." He added, "We will do our best to provide safe lodging environments for residents through continuous crackdowns on illegal lodging businesses."

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