June 11, 2002

Our interview with officers in charge of the recent 'crackdown' on dancing in the PNU area
Conducted at the Geumjeong-gu office, May 28, 2002

What is the law concerning the differences between restaurants, bars, and nightclubs?
According to the current law, general restaurants are defined as places that offer mainly food and also sell drinks as a secondary product. The owner of the general restaurants needs to get "general restaurant license" but the others have to get a "cabaret license" if they want to sell mainly drinks. Furthermore, they have to establish proper facilities, such as sewage arrangements, exits, etc.. And also they should pay entertainment tax to the government corresponding to law.
In a pub(hof in Korean) people can dance in small areas like the space between chairs but the owner is not allowed to make a special area where people can dance, if they haven't got a cabaret license, making the stage, dance floor, and things like that is obviously against Korean current law.

.Which is a bigger legal concern - the noise resulting from these activities or the activities themselves?
This is not the matter of sound but the activities. It really doesn't matter what kind of music it is.Group bands are problem unless they include more than 5 people. I think the current law has changed to become more lenient than the old law.

Where can we find the actual law regulating these things?
You can find the a copy of the law from the "Food Sanitation Act( Hygiene Law). In the case of one bar, on 5th of May, we notified them of the possibility of supervision for the first time, but they were found again to be in violation. The owner has sold mostly drinks and side dishes as opposed to main dishes, but they have general restaurant license, so they shouldn't run his restaurant in violation of the law. We will have to supervise this ad other bars, where owners sell drinks only with general restaurant license
In another PNU bar, there is an obvious distinction between the stage and floor. It can definitely be seen as a dance floor. Therefore in order not to be ticketed, they have to remove those by themselves.

Is the recent crackdown a result of drug related arrests earlier this year?
We haven't been supervising those pubs because of that incident. According to the current law, there is standard of sound but that bar exceeded the standard.

Does the fact that these places are popular with foreigners have anything to do with it?
Not only do foreigners go to those kinds of pubs, but also Koreans as well. So if similar pubs increased rapidly, it would be very difficult to control them. Korean pubs are totally different from the others.
There are some misunderstandings. We are not exclusive at all. I never thought of this as a good chance to control these kinds of pub, where many foreigners go . Obviously the owner of the pub turned up loud music and made a good atmosphere to dance. That was the problem. In many other countries, you can have a drink and dance at the same time but not here. Coincidental there were lots of foreigners in the place where we made an inspection. I think the owner should have told his guests about cultural differences. It wouldn't have happened if he had kept the rules

It is difficult to many foreigners to understand why some illegal activities (like prostitution and selling of black market goods) are openly tolerated, while the seemingly innocent activity of dancing is prohibited. What would you say to these people?
Korea is a so-called "Singing culture". So our law fits in well with this Korean culture. If you are dancing in a place which is not for dancing (Noraebang, restaurant, etc.), this action is against the law. It is not the problem dancing itself, but it is the problem that this place did not have the permits for dancing from the beginning. The serious problem is that the owner didn't tell the foreigners about Korean law because of his profit. Owners already know about the law. They asked a question to the Government and received the answer. Owners have to explain this, and forbid these kinds of actions. But they didn't. Police officers act if and only if there is an action against the law. This has no connection with the fact that you are a foreigner.

In a recent Newsweek article, they mention that these kinds of crackdowns are often the result of nightclubs (usually associated with organized crime in Korea) pay bribes to the police to harass their competitors. Is there anything like that going on here?
There is always trouble situation. The issue that policeofficers accept bribes in places like Hongdae is only a part of it. One ill weed mars a whole pot of soup.

Does the timing have anything to do with the opening of World Cup?
It is coincidental timing. So you may misunderstand that all their control is due to Worldcup. But it has no connection with it.

Is there anything else you'd like to say to the foreign community?
All about these happenings are due to misunderstanding about Korean Culture and Law. We hope that foreigners understand their actions in this case.

--Previous Updates--

Police Crackdown on dancing in 'non nightcubs' near PNU -
May 29 update - We visited the Geumjeong-gu police station Tuesday afternoon and spoke at length with officers involved in the recent ticketing of PNU bars. Stay tuned for the Korean language audio and a basic English summary of what was discussed.
To briefly summarize, the police insist that there is no 'targeting' of foreigner clubs involved and no relationship to the upcoming World Cup. Rather their attention has been drawn to code violations by neighbors and publicly audible noise. Also, after recent drug related arrests in the area, they became aware of these other code related violations, and began searching the area for clubs that were doing the same. Unless an establishment is licensed as a 'nightclub', it are considered a 'restaurant' and prohibited by law from allowing dancing. Music is allowed, but efforts must be made to sound proof the building so that noise is not audible outside. Live musical performances are allowed, but only by paid groups of 5 members or less. While they say that foreign patrons are not a factor, they do acknowledge that there are some cultural differences involved. Korea is primarily a 'singing culture' whereas Westerners are much more inclined to dance than sing. They say that currently, it is unusual to find a bar with primarily Korean patrons where dancing is taking place. They are concerned that unless they crackdown now, this practice may spread to more bars.
When asked if any 'payoffs' from nightclub owners or others were involved, they acknowledged that this had been a problem in the past, but was not a factor now. When asked if there was anything else they wanted foreigners to know, they responded that part of their job is to make foreigners feel safe and comfortable here and that although language differences are a problem, they hope foreigners will understand that the police are in charge of enforcing Korean law.
We hope to get a more in depth translation of our discussion online this weekend. In the meantime, if you'd like to check out the actual text of Korean law (in Korean), visit http://www.lawkorea.com/ We were unable to register using a foreign alien registration ID, but Koreans can do so with little problem.

May 21 We have spoken to someone at the Geumjeong-gu police station and confirmed that tickets were issued to the owners of at least two PNU bars this past weekend for violating the terms of their business licenses. The police said that photos were taken to provide documentation of events. They also mentioned one foreign bar patron who tossed a lit cigarette at one officer. There are a lot of theories and rumors flying around town, but we will wait to comment on any of them until we can provide reliable confirmed information. We plan to speak with law enforcement officials in person on Thursday (May 23), so if you have any comments or questions you'd like us to forward, please send them to newsteam@pusanweb.com. Stay Tuned.

May 19 - We don't have all the facts on this one, but we do know that police entered several popular nightspots near PNU this weekend, issued tickets to the owners and reminded them (and patrons) that dancing is not allowed in those establishments. According to sources (but as yet unconfirmed), dancing is only permitted in establishments that are licensed as 'nightcubs' and located more than 1km from a university. Nightclubs generally require pricey 'table fees' and/or cover charges. These popular nightspots near PNU tend to be more casual, low cost kinds of place (part of the reason they are popular with expats).
What are the exact details of the law? Why have the police decided to act now? We don't know but will send our Pweb investigative team in pursuit of answers. If anyone out there has hard facts, please send them to newsteam@pusanweb.com. We especially welcome comments from any legal authorities or representatives of Busan law enforcement.

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