By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-31 07:56:27 | Updated at 2026-08-31 09:16:45
1 hour ago
SEOUL – The Supreme Court has ruled that entertainment venues known in South Korea as “room cafes”, where customers rent private booths equipped with televisions, mats and pillows, qualify as businesses off-limits to minors.
The Supreme Court overturned a Lower Court ruling that acquitted a room-cafe operator charged with violating the Youth Protection Act and sent the case back to the Suwon District Court for a new trial.
The top court ruled that businesses prohibited to minors could not be limited to those where physical contact or similar conduct occurs between hostesses and customers, or between customers who do not know each other.
“The room cafe in this case was open to the general public and was structured in a way that made it difficult to see inside the rooms from outside, creating the possibility that kissing, other physical contact or sexual activity could take place inside,” the court said.
The defendant operated a room cafe consisting of 16 private rooms in Suwon, Gyeonggi province, from March 2022 to February 2023. Two rooms had transparent windows that allowed the operator to see inside, while the remaining 14 could not be viewed from outside.
Each room was equipped with a mat and pillow that allowed customers to sit or lie down, as well as a television.
The operator was accused of allowing eight teenagers aged 14 to 17 to enter the cafe and failing to display a sign indicating that minors were prohibited from entering.
The case centred on whether the room cafe should be classified as a business where minors are prohibited from entering or working under the Youth Protection Act.
Under the Act, businesses designated by the authorities as providing services that create a risk of sexual conduct – including physical contact between customers or intimate exposure – are off-limits to minors for both entry and employment.
The trial court found that the room cafe fell within that category and fined the operator two million won (S$1,860).
The appellate court, however, acquitted the operator. It interpreted the provision as applying to businesses where physical contact or similar conduct occurs between hostesses or other entertainment workers and customers, or where operators bring together customers who do not know each other for such contact.
It noted that the defendant neither employed entertainment workers nor arranged meetings between customers. The court also found it difficult to conclude that the room cafe provided services likely to lead to sexual conduct.
