"Claimed 'I Fell Asleep and Didn't See'... Youth Cohabitation Motel Owner Fined"

"CCTV Missed... Request for Fine Suspension"
Court: "Past Similar Offenses... Not Excessive"

An unmanned motel owner was fined on charges of allowing teenage boys and girls to stay together in the same room. The owner claimed, "I was dozing off and did not notice," but this was not accepted due to a prior record of similar offenses.

A (52), an unmanned motel owner in Wonju City, was summarily indicted on charges of allowing cohabitation of male and female teenagers, including 19-year-old B and 15-year-old C, around 3:26 a.m. on June 30 last year, and received a summary order of a 500,000 won fine for violating the Youth Protection Act.

In response, A claimed, "I usually monitored with closed-circuit television (CCTV) and verified identities if the age group seemed suspicious." He said he missed the fact that teenagers stayed together because he was dozing off, and was caught by police who arrived immediately after a report.

A appealed, "The male teenager checked in first, and then the female teenager came in, so even if I watched via CCTV, it was difficult to notice."

The photo is not directly related to the content of the article.

However, Judge Kim Dohyung of the Chuncheon District Court Wonju Branch Criminal Division 1, who presided over the case, rejected A’s appeal against the summary order and sentenced him to a 500,000 won fine in a formal trial requested for a suspended sentence. The court cited A’s prior record of a 500,000 won fine for a similar crime in 2016 as a reason.

Judge Kim stated, "Considering that despite the prior offense, male and female teenagers were again allowed to stay together, a suspended sentence is inappropriate," and added, "Even considering various circumstances, the amount of the fine in the summary order cannot be seen as excessive."

According to the Youth Protection Act, it is stipulated that "business activities that cause public morals to deteriorate, such as allowing male and female youths to stay together, or providing a place for such purposes, must not be conducted." Violating this regulation can result in imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won. If a violation of the Youth Protection Act is recognized, in addition to criminal punishment, business suspension and closure orders may be imposed under the Public Health Control Act.

The Supreme Court precedent states that regarding "measures that an innkeeper must take when there are circumstances to suspect that those intending to stay together are youths," it ruled that "when there are circumstances to suspect youth based on appearance or attire, the innkeeper must verify whether they are youths by checking identification or other reliable methods."