Supreme Court rules enclosed room cafes off-limits to minors

The Supreme Court ruled that enclosed "room cafes" — private rooms equipped with TVs where customers can hang out — qualify as businesses off-limits to minors under the Youth Protection Act, legal circles said on Monday. 

The top court reportedly overturned a lower court's not-guilty verdict for a room cafe operator who admitted eight teenagers, ruling that its closed-off rooms created a risk of sexual activity and thus should have been legally off limits to minors.

The defendant operated a 16-space room cafe in Suwon, Gyeonggi, from March 2022 to February 2023. Two of the rooms had transparent glass windows on their doors that allowed the interior to be seen from outside, but the remaining 14 were fully enclosed spaces where the inside could not be viewed from outside. Each room was furnished with a mat and pillows for sitting or lying down, along with a TV.

The case centered on whether room cafes fall under the category of businesses barred to minors as defined by the Youth Protection Act. The law designates as off-limits to minors any business that provides services where there is a risk of sexual acts or similar conduct — including physical contact between unspecified individuals or exposure of intimate body parts.

The first trial found that the room cafe fell under this category and fined the operator 2 million won ($1,500).

The appellate court, however, ruled that the law's reference to "physical contact between unspecified individuals" applies specifically to contact between hostesses and customers at adult entertainment establishments, or contact facilitated between customers who do not know each other. Since the defendant had not employed hostesses or connected unacquainted customers, and the business did not appear structured in a way that risked physical contact, the appellate court acquitted the operator. 

The Supreme Court reversed that decision and sent the case back to the Suwon District Court. It found that the category of businesses barred to minors cannot be limited to cases involving contact between hostesses and unspecified customers, or between unacquainted customers.

In particular, the top court found that the room cafe in question was a venue accessible to unspecified customers, with a structure that made it difficult to see inside the rooms from outside — a business format that carries a risk of physical contact or sexual activity occurring inside.

BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]