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Police have cited maid cafes that sold a paid “live show” menu item in which employees danced on a stage inside the venue.
Seoul’s Mapo Police Station said on the 10th that it had carried out an intensive crackdown on illegal business practices at maid cafes in its jurisdiction. The crackdown ran for about a month, from the 12th of last month through the 7th of this month.
Most of the 29 maid cafes now operating in Mapo District are registered as general restaurants. But the venues have drawn concerns over the sexualization of staff uniforms and services, the use of minors to entertain customers, and links to prostitution. In response, a joint inspection team from the Mapo, Geumcheon, Yeongdeungpo and Guro police stations selected 19 venues seen as most likely to be in violation and conducted on-site inspections.
The crackdown found two venues that sold a paid menu item called a “live show,” under which maids danced on a stage inside the establishment. Police booked the operators for violating business operator obligations under the Food Sanitation Act. Article 44, Paragraph 3 of the act bars employees of general restaurants from entertaining customers through singing, dancing and similar activities.
A police official said, “Going forward, we will work with the district office to guide venues to correct menus with potential legal violations, such as the ‘live show,’ and we will continue monitoring and periodic inspections of irregular business practices to encourage law-abiding operations at venues in our jurisdiction.”