Gov't vows to end outdated dance ban at live music venues

The government pledged to reform outdated regulations that prohibit dancing at live music venues registered as general restaurants, addressing a long-standing issue that recently sparked outrage across the independent music scene, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young said Wednesday.

Speaking at the fourth advisory committee meeting for popular music policy in Seoul, the minister emphasized the urgent need to revise the Enforcement Decree of the Food Sanitation Act.

"We need to bring this issue into the public discourse and resolve it once and for all," Choi said during the meeting. "Instead of avoiding the discussion as in the past, we must not miss this opportunity to update regulations that no longer align with reality."

The policy discussion was brought up when Ovantgarde, a live music venue in Busan, was slapped with a temporary shutdown for two months due to allegations it allowed patrons to dance during a band's performance.

Under current food sanitation regulations, establishments registered as general restaurants are strictly prohibited from allowing customers to dance, a rule originally intended to target nightlife bars operating under the guise of ordinary eateries.

Speaking with The Korea Times in August, the Ovantgarde owner said the "overly broad" restrictions collided with realities of small establishments and that the issue was rooted in the Korean government's failure to recognize live music venues as a distinct category under the law.

On Aug. 19, musicians, organizers and venue owners submitted a petition to the National Assembly, calling for legal changes to protect small music venues.

"Regulations are necessary to ensure the safety and order of performance venues," the petition said. "However, treating dancing and audience participation that occur during an ordinary, wholesome performance as equivalent to entertainment activities at nightlife establishments, in a way that threatens the very survival of small performance venues, needs to be addressed."

So far, the petition has drawn more than 20,000 endorsements. If it reaches 50,000 by Sept. 25, the National Assembly will be compelled to address it.

Musician Shin Dae-chul, chairman of the Bareun Music Cooperative who attended the committee meeting on Wednesday, urged the government to change the law so live music venues do not face penalties when patrons dance.

"This is a problem that can be resolved by simply amending a single line in the regulations. We need a fundamental fix to ensure this does not happen again to independent music venues," he said.

The minister's comment isn't his first. When the Ovantgarde case drew outrage in August, he posted a message to social media, vowing to "restore this abnormal situation to normalcy."