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Fiesta pub, near Korea University in Anam, Seoul, has been denying entry to foreigners for three years due to promiscuous and irresponsible behavior, the bar owner said.

“We no longer accept foreigners because we had many issues with them. I had many bad experiences three years ago when I ran this place almost like a ‘foreigner only’ bar,” the owner Baek said.

“I even had to pick up used condoms while cleaning the bathroom. Our bar is not a motel. Sometimes we could hear customers moaning in the bathroom.”

Baek said he found a condom in the bathroom twice.

He stressed he could not tolerate the lewd behavior of foreigners anymore and that he was very upset with a female customer who took a shower in the bathroom after sex and some male customers who would sexually molest intoxicated female customers.

An expat recently visited Fiesta but was denied service even though the bar was empty.

“I went there with some Korean and other foreign friends and it was empty, so I asked if they were already doing business, but the manager just told me that they did not allow foreigners,” aldekorea wrote on a consumer report forum of the Korea Observer.

“I told him that that was illegal (although maybe it is not), but he only told me, sorry, no foreigners.”

In this regard, Baek made an apology for the inconvenience and acknowledged that this would go against the National Human Rights Commission Act, which supposedly prohibits racial discrimination.

He also added that he has no choice but to continue the “no-foreigner” policy even when the shop is empty and when foreigner customers are accompanied by Korean nationals because he doesn’t want to suffer the “nightmare” again.

“Foreign customers don’t make trouble when only several of them are present. But when dozens of foreigners come together, they cross the line,” he said, noting that if he allows one foreign customer, more foreigners will attempt to enter his establishment.

“They are too mischievous and turn the bar into a mess.”

Baek argued that he also had to deal with brawls and thefts involving foreigners and some other bar owners in Anam have also banned entry to foreigners due to similar reasons.

He noted that he hasn’t seen any noticeable changes in revenue after banning foreigners.

Hwang Pil-kyu, a human rights lawyer at Gonggam, claims that business owners should not be allowed to discriminate against foreigners even if the “Korean-only” policy would be more ideal in maximizing profits.

“Should we allow business owners discriminate against the elderly because they occupy seats for too long and negatively affect the business?” he asked.

Michael Hurt, assistant professor at Busan University of Foreign Studies, points out that Korea should introduce an anti-discrimination law with a strong punishment for offenders.

“If Korea cared about international reputation and doing the right thing, then they should put into place an anti-discrimination law which has been proposed but never made it into the books that carry an actual penalty,” he said.

The National Human Rights Commission Act states that people should not be discriminated based on race and nationality, but it doesn’t prescribe punishment for offenders.

The complaint was originally posted on http://www.koreaobserver.com/forums/topic/fiesta-pub-in-anam-bans-entry-on-foreigners/.