K-Pop Group Arrested For Visa Violations
Japanese police have arrested the members of the Korean pop group “Great” – who were apparently working despite having only come to the country on tourist visas:
The group arrived in Japan in October on tourist visas. Despite being aware of the fact that their activities were an illegal violation of the visa terms, they’ve given about 70 concerts in Tokyo.
From the video clip, we can see that the police raid took place at Seichi Entertainment’s concert house in Shin-Okubo. Here are a description of the business from the Mainichi:
Groups of female fans are often seen waiting on a street in the Shinjuku Ward district for performances at the K-pop music hall Seichi, which has been offering three stages a day of young Korean musicians since it opened in April.
The hall, with a capacity of about 200 people and meaning “sacred place” in Japanese, hosts both South Korean and domestically formed K-pop acts.
It is located in the basement of a multiple-tenant building on a street lined with Korean restaurants in an area known as Korea town.
“I think this place is a culture base to sustain the Korean boom,” said Chu Kwang Ho, 56, manager of Seichi.
And here is a YouTube video of them, calling on fans to check out one of their illegal performances:
Judging from the lack of many pictures and videos of the group, it seems that they were relatively unknown and just getting their start in Japan. If they were hoping to cash in on the K-pop boom in Japan, they will have to give up that dream now. After this visa violation they’ll probably be barred from entering the country for at least a few years.
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