Hyundai Department Store executive caught violating quarantine rule

Hyundai Department Store in Apgujeong, Seoul / Korea times file

By Kim Jae-heun

A top executive at Hyundai Department Store has been accused of breaching quarantine rules during September and October by visiting an illegal entertainment establishment. He is also accused of having his driver wait until the morning to bring him back home.

The executive acknowledged the allegation and apologized, but claimed that he did not know the club was operating illegally. But a police investigation appears inevitable as the executive breached the law.

“The senior executive apologized over the case saying it is his fault that he went to a hostess bar regardless of the reason. However, he noted that he didn't know the place was illegal,” a Hyundai Department Store official said.

Local media reported on Thursday that the top executive broke the quarantine rule at least four times last month when he went to the bar that was supposed to have been closed according to quarantine rules. The government forced nightclubs and bars to shut down completely between September and October due to a surge in COVID-19 infections.

The executive allegedly visited the entertainment establishment four times in September. His drivers said the executive went to the same place over a hundred times from 2017 to 2019, before the outbreak of COVID-19.

The hostess bar, located in the affluent Nonhyun-dong area of southern Seoul, appeared from the outside like a coffee shop that was closed during the day. The owner registered the establishment as a restaurant to avoid a detection by police and ran the business secretly at night.

Drivers said they worked overtime ― up to 160 additional hours per week ― having to wait in the car until the senior executive finished activities in the hostess bar. However, they were not paid extra.

Hyundai Department Store hires personal drivers from an external agency where they are contracted under a blanket wage system. A blanket wage system pays monthly salaries that include extended, night, and holiday work allowances in a lump sum.

“I thought he would not go to the hostess bar during the pandemic. But I was mistaken,” one of the drivers said.

“I didn't know when he would be finished, so I just waited nearby. He normally came out at two in the morning,” another driver said.

Labor experts said drivers must be paid more when they work overtime even if they are contracted under a blanket wage system.