Eligibility controversy continues over 'adult entertainment facilities'

An owner of an “adult entertainment facility” holds a picket demanding the second emergency relief fund given to small- and medium-sized enterprises in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Sept. 11. Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

Controversy is continuing over the government's recently announced assistance package of at least 1.5 million won ($1,260) and up to 2 million won in emergency relief given to operators of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) whose sales have plummeted due to Level 2.5 social distancing.

At issue is the ambiguous eligibility guidelines concerning “adult entertainment facilities,” listed among 12 virus-hit designated facilities. The guidelines ban the facilities prone to infection outbreaks, including gyms, pubs, coffee shops and karaoke establishments, from hosting indoor activities after 9 p.m. or shuts them down outright.

According to the second emergency relief fund that will require some 7 trillion won financed via the fourth extra budget bill, some 150,000 operators of small pubs or bars among the 12 facilities are able to receive 2 million won without documents to prove their sales records from recent months.

About 323,000 operators of coffee houses and restaurants that had to reduce business hours will be able to receive 1.5 million won.

A 1 million won support payment will be given to 2.43 million others whose annual sales are less than 400 million won, if they are able to prove a sales plunge in July and August.

But the relief is denied to small nightclubs and some bars categorized as “adult entertainment facilities” for implied reasons of negative and socially unacceptable promotion of unhealthy, anti-family values, reflecting the reputation of the facilities associated with sexual promiscuity and adultery.

Under the law, operators of such facilities can hire workers for reasons other than waiting tables, but it is an open secret that owners use this as a loophole to provide illegal prostitution services, typically in singing rooms or room salons.

Notwithstanding what some consider unfair rules for helping the virus-hit businesses, the government said the relief will be paid according to how they are categorized in the initial registration, a sentiment shared by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers.

“We are aware of possible violations of related laws governing the operation of the facilities in question,” Rep. An Min-suk of the DPK said on a recent radio interview. “In order to facilitate prompt assistance, the money will be given only to those not registered as adult entertainment facilities.”

According to Hansung University professor Kim Sang-bong, the facility operators should be given the assistance because their businesses have suffered just as much ― or even greater ― due to the virus and subsequent heightened social distancing.

“If the intention is to help those hit by the virus, people who suffered a sales decrease should be eligible regardless of what their business was,” he said.

Data from Korea Credit Data, a financial market service provider, showed that adult entertainment facilities were the hardest hit amid the pandemic.

The sales volume of adult entertainment facilities nationwide slumped 86 percent in the first week of September from a year earlier, with those in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province reporting a 98 percent drop, year-on-year. The figure is far worse than gyms (79 percent) and education facilities (66 percent).

In separate data from a local real estate market data service provider, Real Estate 114, the number of facilities categorized under tourism, leisure and entertainment declined to 10,454 in the July-September period, down 1,260 or 10.8 percent from a quarter earlier.