Internet streamers smoke outside an “Excel broadcast” studio near an elementary school in Seoul’s Gangnam district. Yonhap
An adult-content livestreaming studio located next to an elementary school in Seoul’s Gangnam district has sparked controversy over its potential impact on students’ learning environment. A joint inspection by district authorities, launched after a series of complaints from parents, found that no concrete action could be taken under current law, further fueling the dispute.
According to Gangnam District Office on Monday, the studio at the center of the controversy is located in the basement of a commercial building about 100 meters from an elementary school in Cheongdam-dong.
Officials said the space is used by female online streamers who produce what are called “Excel broadcasts,” a kind of livestream in which viewer donations are displayed on-screen in a spreadsheet-like format. The format often features multiple streamers at once, with some using provocative gestures or revealing outfits to encourage viewers to compete with one another in sending donations.
Citing their structure and sexually explicit content, the National Tax Service last year described such broadcasts as “cyber room salons,” comparing them to online versions of Korea’s adult nightlife establishments.
Parents of students at the elementary school have raised repeated complaints, saying streamers who appear in the broadcasts walk around the neighborhood in revealing outfits and smoke outside.
The complaints prompted Gangnam District Office, the Gangnam-Seocho District Office of Education and police to conduct a joint inspection last Thursday, but authorities were unable to impose any administrative measures. According to the district office, the business is registered as a “studio rental service,” which is not included among the types of businesses restricted from being located near schools under the Educational Environment Protection Act.
The venue is also difficult to classify as an establishment that harms youths under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s public notice system, a gap critics say exposes a regulatory blind spot.
For now, the district is responding by asking the business to exercise restraint.
"We asked the studio manager to refrain from smoking on the street or wearing excessively revealing outfits in ways that could harm students’ emotional well-being, and the business said it would actively cooperate," a district official said.
Source: Korea Times News
