Suwon Restaurant Caught Allowing Customers to Sing...Gyeonggi Province Detects Illegal Operations

[Suwon Ilbo = Reporter Park No-hun] The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police announced on the 26th that as a result of investigating illegal business operations at general restaurants in the province to prevent the spread of COVID-19, they have detected legal violations at six establishments including illegal '70s-80s/live' operations and violations of gathering bans.

From August 2 to 6, the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police conducted focused investigations into illegal business operations including COVID-19 quarantine violations at 135 establishments in four regions—Suwon, Seongnam, Ansan, and Goyang—where there are many general restaurants operating in the form of 70s-80s/live performances.

The province plans to continue this investigation as Social Distancing Level 4 has been extended.

Looking at major cases detected, a restaurant in Suwon was registered as a general restaurant but was equipped with sound and backing track facilities and allowed customers, not professional singers, to sing.

Unlike beer bars and entertainment bars, only hired singers are allowed to sing at general restaurants, similar to live cafes.

A restaurant in Paju was operating as a hold'em pub (a type of establishment where people drink alcohol and enjoy card games), which is a prohibited business type, and a restaurant in Seongnam violated the ban on gatherings of three or more people after 6 p.m. by allowing five people to gather, failing to comply with Social Distancing Level 4 standards.

In cases where general restaurants install sound and backing track facilities and allow customers to sing, penalties include imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won under the Food Sanitation Act. For operating a gathering-prohibited facility, penalties include a fine of up to 3 million won for violation of the Infectious Disease Prevention Act. For violations of the ban on private gatherings of three or more people after 6 p.m., operators are subject to an administrative fine of 1.5 million won (first offense) under the Infectious Disease Prevention Act, and users face an administrative fine of 100,000 won.

Yoon Tae-wan, head of the Gyeonggi Province Civil Life Special Judicial Police, said, "In this urgent situation where the spread of COVID-19 continues, we ask business owners to cease illegal operations on their own, and we will continue enforcement activities to establish fair business order and prevent the spread of COVID-19."