Foreign workers addicted to illegal games during farming off-season… Police to launch crackdown

Recently, the number of recreational game centers targeting foreign workers and others has increased in rural areas, and police have begun to take steps to stop the spread of these games.
According to the police on the 17th, the National Police Agency will continue to investigate cases of "gays in farming and fishing villages and areas with a high concentration of foreigners" until the 29th.
The government will be carrying out a concentrated crackdown on game centers. This is because there is a high possibility that foreign workers and others who have more free time due to the agricultural off-season will visit recreational game centers.
Currently, there are 19,977 game centers nationwide, including general game centers (adult entertainment rooms) and Internet computer games.
The total number of game facilities (PC rooms) provided by game centers is expected to increase, with 1,588 new game centers opening in 2021, 1,761 in 2022, and 2,661 in 2023.
Last year, there were 278 permits for general game centers, with 52 in the Gyeonggi region. There were 30 in Gyeongbuk, 29 in Gwangju, 25 in Seoul, and 10 in Chungnam.
In the same period, the number of PC rooms approved was 2,383, with Seoul having only 122 and Ulsan having 1,233.
The increasing trend was noticeable in areas outside the capital region, including Ulsan with 278 cases, Chungnam with 268 cases, Gyeongbuk with 174 cases, and Chungbuk with 166 cases.
In particular, the majority of newly established gaming centers are PC rooms, but most of them are small stores with 10 or fewer PCs that offer slot games.
The startup costs for these businesses are low, at 20 to 30 million won, but they are highly profitable and easy to close down. Police say they tend to be located outside the capital area, such as in industrial complexes and rural areas.
As the number of sex game venues is on the rise, the government plans to quickly put a stop to the spread of illegal game venues, as there is a risk that more foreign workers will become involved in illegal games in areas that lack tourist attractions.
If they get caught up in illegal games, it could lead to crime. In fact, on September 1st, a Chinese man in his 60s in Yeongam, South Jeolla, said he was angry because he had lost all his money and was playing a game.
In one case, a man set fire to a shopping mall and died in the process. The police plan to crack down aggressively on unregistered and unlicensed businesses, illegal alterations, and currency exchange. To this end, they will be deploying mobile patrol units and local police.
They will mobilize their resources to gather information, and the crime prevention departments of city and provincial offices, local police stations, and game management committees will launch joint crackdowns.