Seoul: The culture ministry has taken action against 15 individuals, referring them to the police for allegedly reselling large quantities of sports and K-pop concert tickets at significantly inflated prices. This crackdown includes cases where tickets were marked up to eight times their original value, according to officials on Wednesday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism identified these cases through an extensive analysis of online reports and data monitoring illegal ticket resales from January 5 to June 16. The investigation targeted major secondhand trading platforms, focusing on accounts that frequently sold multiple tickets or listed numerous seats for specific events.
The investigation revealed that one seller had resold 110 professional baseball tickets within the period, while another managed to sell 54 tickets for a single game in April. Among the 11 individuals involved in sports ticket resales, total estimated sales reached 36.84 million won (approximately US$23,970). In one instance, a ticket with a face value of 150,000 won was resold for 350,000 won.
Authorities also uncovered suspected violations in the resale of tickets for high-demand concerts with strict purchasing limits. This included BTS' "Arirang" world tour shows in Busan and Seventeen's "New" world tour encore shows in Incheon. Despite restrictions allowing only one ticket per person, one seller was found to have resold over 10 tickets.
In another notable case, a ticket for a concert by S.Coups X Mingyu, a unit of Seventeen, was resold for 1.2 million won, roughly eight times the original price of 143,000 won. Four individuals implicated in concert ticket resales were estimated to have sold tickets worth a combined 11.64 million won.
The ministry noted that the scale and pattern of these sales exceeded normal person-to-person transfers, suggesting that some tickets might have been acquired using automated programs or other illicit methods.
Officials announced their commitment to continuing the monitoring of bulk and repeated resale activity, collaborating with online platforms, ticket agencies, and professional sports organizations. They plan to refer suspected cases to law enforcement authorities.
In preparation for the revised laws on curbing unfair ticket transactions, which take effect on August 28, the ministry is preparing additional enforcement measures. The amendments will prohibit all illegal resales, regardless of whether automated tools were used, and impose fines up to 50 times the resale value.