Photo: video screenshot

TheMK sports Korea incident involving a mother and son forcibly occupying others' seats, leading to 300 ticket refunds at a cinema in Bengbu, East China's Anhui Province, on January 29, went viral online, briefly becoming the top trending topic on social media. Media reports on Friday stated that cinema staff confirmed police intervention, leading to full ticket refunds for all customers.

"They [the mother and son] even punched our staff a few times," cinema staff revealed, according to media reports.

An online video showed a man standing in the back row of the cinema, emotionally shouting, "I'm sitting here, what are you going to do about it?" The confrontation stemmed from a seating dispute with other patrons. A woman next to him retorted, "Look at how filial you are, a great son!" prompting applause from the crowd. The police later arrived to handle the situation, and the audience shouted, "Leave! Leave!"

Someone claiming to be involved in the incident stated that they were sitting in row 13, while the man's mother was seated in row 2. They attempted to move to the back row, claiming their original seats had a poor view. Another eyewitness said that after failing to reach a resolution, the situation escalated, leading to a police call, the movie being paused, and all 300 people in the theater receiving full refunds for their tickets.

On January 30, staff at the cinema confirmed that the police had resolved the issue and refunded all tickets. They noted that the mother and son ignored multiple warnings. "They completely ignored what we said, and even punched our staff." They explained that the pair's seats were located on the side, and because they didn't like the view, they insisted on sitting in the middle, leading to the verbal altercation.

Online users criticized the behavior, commenting, "Isn't seat selection something you do yourself?" and "This really disrupts public order."

Global Times