Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
By Kang Seung-woo
The L'Escape Hotel, the first stand-alone brand of Shinsegae Chosun Hotel, has been found to have imported goods and hired a foreign employee illegally.
According to Shinsegae, Tuesday, the L'Escape imported 77 Spanish-made cocktail glasses to Korea without going through customs, to use them at its top-floor bar Marque d'Amour.
The glasses were brought by British-based bartender group Taxonomy, in partnership with Shinsegae, to Korea before the launch of the hotel in July.
According to the law, imported business-purpose food “containers” must be declared to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and go through additional safety inspections.
“While they were imported to Korea, relevant procedures were missing,” a Shinsegae Chosun Hotel official said.
“We are currently going through due process after declaring them to the Korea Customs Service.”
The official added that the smuggled cocktail glasses are not being used at the bar for now.
Along with the smuggled cocktail glasses, it was found that a Russian bartender worked for more than a month at the bar without obtaining a proper visa status.
While admitting the illegal employment, Shinsegae added that the bartender is now working legally after receiving a work visa Saturday.
The official said they had made some mistakes while rushing to build the new property, adding the company will make sure no more illegalities will occur.
Tthe MFDS conducted its first inspection of the L'Escape last month.
The French-style boutique hotel made its debut July 19, under the concept of the 19th-century Paris aristocracy.
However, it has been struggling to live up to expectations due to “relatively” high room rates.
Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.