Busan Ovantgarde Business Suspension Controversy: City Council Member Also Points Out the Need for Improvement

[Financial News] Ovantgarde, a small live performance venue in Nam-gu, Busan, received a two-month business suspension on the 26th of last month. The reason was that audience members were caught dancing during a performance on the 7th of that month. Ovantgarde was found to have violated the relevant laws because it operates as a general restaurant. Under current law, there is no system for registering a business as a “live club.”

The issue has also become a topic of discussion in political circles. Voices are emerging from local councils calling for performance environments to be created for spaces that serve as incubators for local musicians.
Nam Myeong-suk, a member of the Busan Metropolitan Council, said on the 9th, during the 339th extraordinary session, regarding the Ovantgarde incident, “We should use this as an opportunity to reflect on the institutional reality facing Busan’s small-scale performance culture.”
Ovantgarde is a representative small live performance venue in Busan that has consistently provided stages for local musicians and indie artists. However, it recently received a business suspension order for violating the operating requirements for general restaurants after audience members moved tables and chairs aside, stood to watch the performance, and danced to the music.
Nam said, “I am not denying the legal basis for administrative sanctions under the current food sanitation regulations. The problem is that the current system is excessively out of touch with the reality of small live performance venues.”
She pointed out that it was particularly ironic that, while the festival organizing committee is working to develop the Busan International Rock Festival into a major festival, a live venue for local musicians is being suspended simply because audience members danced.

Nam said, “When music is played and sung at a performance, it is a natural part of performance culture for the audience to listen, applaud, cheer, and stand up,” adding, “It is unrealistic to regulate this uniformly simply because the venue is classified as a general restaurant. However, the current system leaves room for local governments to allow dancing in audience areas through ordinances when certain safety standards and requirements are met.”
Since some autonomous districts, including Mapo District in Seoul, where the Hongdae commercial district is located, have already established and implemented relevant ordinances, the argument is that Busan should also review institutional improvements.
She emphasized, “Busan has small live performance venues such as Ovantgarde and local musicians who are active in the city, but the administrative and institutional foundation needed to properly accommodate them is insufficient,” adding, “We can no longer leave unattended this institutional gap in which performance venues are legally treated as general restaurants.”
She proposed, “Since the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) recently stated that it would review improvements to current laws and the establishment of a new concept for performance venues in response to the Ovantgarde business suspension case, Busan should not simply wait for the central government to improve the system. It should first gather voices from the field and present alternatives.”
Nam emphasized the need for a comprehensive survey of small live performance venues and live clubs in Busan, as well as an assessment of the operating conditions of performance spaces run as general restaurants. She added that both the council and the city need to play a role by reviewing measures to allow performance-related cultural activities in audience areas subject to safety standards and considering the enactment of a Busan-specific ordinance to support small live performance venues.
[email protected] Byun Ok-hwan Reporter