Chinese tourists assault restaurateur in Jeju

Jeju police arrested eight Chinese tourists on charges of assaulting four Koreans, including a restaurant owner, her son and customers, on Monday. The eight Chinese tourists, who arrived in Jeju on Sept. 6, visited a local Chinese restaurant in Yeon-dong at around 10:25 p.m. on Friday and ordered their meals. The restaurant owner, surnamed Ahn, 53, noticed they had brought in alcoholic drinks purchased outside the restaurant.

“Drinks from other stores are not allowed in my restaurant,” said Ahn, while her son, surnamed Heo, 30, tried to stop them from drinking.

The tourists then left the restaurant without paying, but because their meals had already been served, Ahn and Heo followed them outside, saying, “you need to pay for what’s already been served.”

While quarrelling over the bill, one Chinese tourist suddenly hit Ahn in the head with a glass bottle, at which point all of them attacked, according to police. Her son and other customers were also assaulted when they tried to stop the attack. The tourists continued the attack for almost 10 minutes before the ambulance came. Ahn suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and was taken to a nearby hospital. The court issued detention warrants for the five Chinese tourists for further investigation and banned the remaining three from leaving the country.

BY CHOI CHOONG-IL [kim.yuna1@joongang.co.kr]