"'Order Alcohol from That Store' Minor Assassin Part-Timer Targeting Competitor's Business Suspension"

Online Buzz Over Minor Recruitment Ads
Multiple Similar Incidents Already Occurred
Companies Must Thoroughly Verify IDs

A job posting for so-called 'assassin part-timers,' who employ minors to visit competing businesses and order alcohol, has been spotted, sparking controversy online. It is suspected to be an attempt to get a rival restaurant suspended from business.

On the 20th, images capturing a job advertisement were posted on various social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter. The posting states, "Hiring part-timers under 19 years old," and "Looking for two people who enjoy meat and alcohol. Expenses will be covered."

The working hours are from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., totaling 3 hours per day, for 2 days. The hourly wage is 30,000 won, which is considered high even among part-time jobs. It appears to target the evening hours when customers usually flock.

Controversial job posting
[Image source=Online Community]

Netizens who saw the posting criticized it, saying, "Isn't this openly trying to get a competitor’s business suspended?" They speculate that the plan is to disguise minors as adults and send them to competing restaurants to order alcoholic beverages.

Under current law, establishments that provide alcohol to youths face a 2-month business suspension for the first violation, 3 months for the second, and closure orders for the third violation.

The authenticity of the job posting is not precisely known. However, netizens expressed concern, saying, "This is something that could actually happen." In fact, the so-called 'assassin' act of hiring minor part-timers and sending them to competing businesses to order alcohol has occurred in the past.

In 2014, a general restaurant in Ulsan was fined 3 million won for providing alcohol to two minor part-timers sent by a competing business owner.

Restaurants that provide alcohol to minors will face administrative sanctions. [Image source=Online Community]

At that time, the restaurant owner, Mr. A, claimed, "There were many customers, so it was difficult to verify if they were youths, and the competitor deliberately created a situation violating the law," and filed a lawsuit to cancel the fine.

However, the court ruled that the fine was justified because Mr. A failed to verify the youths’ identities.

There was also an incident in 2009 where a couple who owned a hof (pub) in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, coaxed two teenage friends of their son to order alcohol at a competing business. The couple was prosecuted for obstruction of business, but the court acquitted them, citing lack of evidence of active deception. The court emphasized the need for restaurants to thoroughly check customers’ IDs to determine if they are minors.