Mapo-gu will inspect 29 concept cafes — including maid cafes and butler cafes — in the district from Monday through Sept. 11, District Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun announced.
The move comes as the proliferation of maid cafes and similar concept cafes around the Hongdae area has drawn growing public attention over the employment of minors, business practices and the potential for entertainment solicitation.
Amid this scrutiny, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has asked the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to revise its licensing system so that so-called "variant maid cafes" are classified as adult entertainment establishments at the permitting stage.
In response, the district is stepping up its efforts with a new round of inspections that pairs on-site checks with operator education sessions.
Earlier, in June, the district inspected 28 local maid cafes and similar venues alongside the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. No serious violations of the Food Sanitation Act were found at that time.
Concept cafes are registered as food service businesses under the Food Sanitation Act, a category that does not categorically prohibit the employment of minors.
Nor is it automatically illegal for a minor employee at a general eatery to serve alcohol. However, hiring minors as entertainment servers, having them perform entertainment services or serving alcohol to underage customers are all prohibited. Sitting with customers to drink, dance or sing together — acts that encourage entertainment — may also constitute prohibited entertainment solicitation under the Food Sanitation Act.
The district said it will therefore focus its inspections on business practices that could qualify as prohibited entertainment solicitation under the law.
Inspectors will look for practices such as employees sitting or drinking with customers, excessive physical contact, arrangements for employees to meet or take photos with customers outside the premises upon purchase of certain menu items, and performances taking place outside designated stage areas, including in aisles or seating sections.
Alongside this, inspectors will check compliance with laws governing the employment of minors, ID verification procedures for alcohol sales, facility standards and other operator obligations.
Issues identified during inspections will be addressed on the spot, and operators using suggestive promotional content on SNS will be ordered to make corrections. Serious violations will be referred for administrative action under relevant procedures.
Operator education sessions will cover the prohibition on sitting or drinking with customers and on excessive physical contact, the requirement that paid photo shoots and events be held inside the premises, and guidance to avoid menu descriptions that evoke adult entertainment venues. Operators will also be encouraged to post notices in their establishments to protect employees from unreasonable customer demands.
"As public attention around concept cafes in the Hongdae area has grown, we will use these inspections to clearly communicate the standards operators must follow," District Mayor Yoo said. "We will work to build a healthy operating culture where both customers and employees can feel safe."
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