Violation of Youth Protection Act, Consecutive Fines
Falling Asleep Momentarily Causes CCTV to Miss Enforcement
Recently, comic cafes and room cafes have been pointed out as hotbeds of juvenile delinquency, and cases have even emerged where people use motels through cunning methods. These include deceiving owners with fake IDs or cross-dressing, or avoiding CCTV in unmanned establishments, but only the innocent owners are repeatedly punished.
On the afternoon of the 24th, a note was attached to a kiosk at an unmanned motel in Jung-gu, Seoul, stating, "Minors are strictly prohibited from entering. CCTV monitored 24 hours. Immediate police report." When trying to use it as a walk-in customer, one had to verify their ID with a resident registration card or driver's license on the ID scanner to proceed to the next step. However, this system is not applied to all unmanned motels.
Motel sign. [Image source=Yonhap News]
There was even a case where an unmanned motel owner was fined after being caught by the police for missing the CCTV screen due to dozing off. On the 17th of last month, Judge Kim Dohyung of the Chuncheon District Court Wonju Branch Criminal Division 1 sentenced motel owner A (52) to a fine of 500,000 won.
A was found to have allowed a 19-year-old male and a 15-year-old female to stay together at an unmanned motel in Wonju City at 3:26 a.m. in June last year. A’s side appealed for a suspended sentence, saying, "We usually monitored with CCTV and conducted identity verification if the age group seemed suspicious. I dozed off and missed it." However, the court did not accept this, citing a previous fine for a similar offense in 2016.
Even if motel owners are present, there is no guarantee they can completely prevent minors from entering. If they appear to be adults, ID checks may not be conducted, and various methods such as presenting someone else’s or forged IDs are used. On the 13th, Judge Seo Bomin of the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 11 sentenced motel owner B (82) to a fine of 7 million won. B operates a motel in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, and is accused of providing rooms without checking the IDs of four 14-year-old youths (2 males, 2 females) and one 15-year-old female around 9 p.m. last April.
Also, the Incheon District Court acquitted motel owner C (61), who was deceived by a male student dressed as a woman and brought to trial in June last year. At that time, the male student wore makeup on his face, a short skirt, and stockings. When C asked before collecting the fee, "Aren’t you a man?" the student responded with a female voice.
The Juvenile Protection Act stipulates that "business activities that cause public morals to deteriorate, such as allowing minors to cohabit in mixed-gender rooms, or providing places for such purposes, are prohibited."
Violations can result in imprisonment for up to three years or fines up to 30 million won. In addition to criminal penalties, business suspension and closure orders can be imposed under the Public Health Control Act. Although the government announced a regulatory relaxation policy last year in the livelihood regulation innovation plan, exempting self-employed persons deceived by forged or altered IDs of minors from punishment, legislative improvements are still needed.
Professor Lee Woonghyuk of Konkuk University’s Department of Police Science said, "The problem of juvenile delinquency is becoming serious, and the law itself needs to be maintained from the perspective of healthy growth and development," but also pointed out, "It is excessive to impose criminal punishment if the lodging business operator has fulfilled the verification duty or if cunning methods were used."
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