Failed to Book Filial Piety Concert Tickets, Then 'Dding~' Alarm... "Lim Young-woong Ticket 1 Million Won" [Hutdari Economy]

③Limits of Successful Picketing
Concert Seats Priced at 180,000 Won Soar to 5.5 Million Won
Why Celebrities Are Directly Responding to the Ticket Scalping War
"Singers and Audiences Actively Respond; Precise Legislation Needed"

Editor's NoteMany thought it was a smart economic activity to get something better, but it often turned out to be a misstep. When consumers are deceived by corporate marketing or blinded by momentary gains and make wrong decisions, they end up being the ones who suffer. We aim to examine economic activities where people have made 'missteps' by misjudging everyday situations and messing things up.

“Daughter, I want to go to the Lim Young-woong concert!”

Mom became a fan of singer Lim Young-woong (Young-woong Era). Online ticketing is not easy at the age of sixty. With a very cautious and earnest expression, she said this.

We joined the fierce ticket battle. 5,4,3,2,1…. (Sold out)

We fell gloriously in battle.

"Did it work?" Mom's face was full of hope. Cold sweat was running down. I couldn't bring myself to say "we failed." At that moment, a notification popped up from Danggeun Market.

‘Lim Young-woong Seoul concert ticket for transfer at 1,000,000 KRW.’

In today's era, fierce ticket battles (피켓팅, combining 'blood' and 'ticketing' to mean extremely intense ticketing) are essential for so-called 'hot' performances and concerts. Concerts of famous singers like Lim Young-woong and IU are prime battlegrounds for such ticket battles. Tickets sell out within one minute of opening. It means that all seats are sold out before you can even click the mouse once in sync with the countdown. Musicals are no exception. Performances featuring famous musical actors attract so-called 'revolving door audiences' (audiences who watch the same production repeatedly with different cast members), making ticket acquisition fiercely competitive.

The performance industry must wage war against scalpers as ticket battles intensify. Scalpers and even fake tickets are rampant on secondhand trading platforms like Danggeun Market and Bungaejangter, causing increasing consumer harm. At the 'SBS Gayo Daejeon,' an incident occurred where organized fake ticket sales involving part-time workers turned the venue into chaos, leading to a police investigation.

"Got you, you rascal" Undercover agents & concert cancellations as 'strong measures'

Some singers, judging that there is no sharp way to stop illegal transactions, roll up their sleeves and join the war against scalpers. Singer Sung Si-kyung personally took part in online scalper crackdowns with his manager. Before a concert last November, they infiltrated as buyers online and caught scalpers. The ticket seller tried to illegally sell a VIP seat ticket priced at 154,000 KRW for 450,000 to 500,000 KRW. The manager pretended to accept the ticket transfer, learned the seat number and account details, and then canceled the ticket. Afterwards, Sung Si-kyung posted this on his social media to warn fans. Sung Si-kyung's side announced, "All tickets sold for illegal purposes were put on hold, and after account transfers and cancellations, sales were blocked. Reserved tickets were automatically canceled." They also put the scalpers on a blacklist to prevent them from joining Sung Si-kyung's fan club or booking future concerts.

Singers Sung Si-kyung (from left), IU, Jang Beom-jun
[Photo by Golden Disc Awards Secretariat, EDAM Entertainment, Busker Busker]

Lim Young-woong, known as the 'filial piety concert,' is the fiercest battleground. When tickets priced at 180,000 KRW were traded up to 5,500,000 KRW, his agency directly filtered out fraudulent cases. Fish Music stated, "We are issuing warnings about transaction scams" and "We directly canceled suspicious fraudulent bookings and transactions through monitoring the reservation window."

IU took steps to eradicate scalping by gifting tickets to those who reported illegal transactions at her fan concert held in September last year. Twelve confirmed fraudulent ticket bookings were canceled. Her agency, EDAM Entertainment, expelled those involved in illegal ticket transactions and attempts from IU's official fan club 'Uaena' and restricted their use of the Melon Ticket ID for one year.

Jang Beom-jun recently planned a small theater concert for fans after two years. When the 55,000 KRW ticket price surged more than threefold, he canceled all 10 shows' ticket reservations two days before the concert. He said, "It's a small-scale concert, but many scalped tickets appeared," and urged, "Please do not buy tickets through unofficial channels." However, when more than 70 out of 500 seats were suspected scalped tickets, he said, "We will find a fair method and announce it," and canceled the reservations. Later, he introduced a new lottery-based reservation system.

Singer Lim Young-woong [Photo by Mulgogi Music]

The persistent scalping problem... Is legal regulation possible?

The lack of strong legal regulations to curb online scalping is a problem. Most scalpers use computer 'macro' programs to bulk-buy tickets and then sell them online. Pressing a key once is recognized as the same command, allowing multiple seats to be booked in a short time. However, Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the Minor Offenses Act limits punishment for scalping to those who resell tickets at a premium at venues such as theaters, stadiums, stations, ferry terminals, and bus stops. Even if caught, the penalty is a light fine or detention of up to 200,000 KRW.

The content of the text is unrelated to the photo. [Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@]

After the music and performance industry urged the enactment of related laws to solve the scalper problem, a bill targeting 'macro bulk-buying' is set to take effect in March. The bill prohibits illegal ticket sales using macros, stating that "Anyone who uses a program that automatically and repeatedly inputs order commands on an information and communication network to illegally sell tickets shall be punished by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million KRW." However, it is difficult to verify macro use case by case. This limitation is why the industry agrees that the bill needs supplementation.

To eradicate scalping, the supply-demand imbalance of tickets must be somewhat resolved, but this is difficult given Korea's shortage of large concert halls. A representative from a performance planning company said, "We need to reduce scalping by supplying sufficient tickets to meet demand, but realistically, it's not easy," adding, "Most fans shout 'Don't buy or sell scalped tickets,' but the desire to attend their favorite singer's concert even at a premium remains the same."

Another music industry insider said, "Because of scarcity, tickets have more value, so completely stopping scalping is practically impossible." He added, "Singers cannot and should not stand by. Along with the current active response by singers and fans against scalping, carefully refined legislation is urgently needed."