Online Ticket Scalping Most Detected at Performance 'Heumppeok Show'... 2nd Place is 'Gahwang'

Korea Creative Content Agency 'Online Scalping Report' Analysis
15 Cases of Heumppeok Show... 4 Cases of Na Hoon-a Concert

From November last year to July this year, the performance with the highest number of detected online ticket scalping cases was singer Psy's 'Heumbok Show'.

On the 6th, Kang Yoo-jung, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, disclosed the online ticket scalping report details based on the analysis data of the 'Online Ticket Scalping Report Board' received from the Korea Creative Content Agency (hereinafter 'KOCCA'). A total of 3,400 scalping reports were submitted to the board from November last year to July this year. Since November last year, KOCCA has established a cooperative system with major domestic ticketing platforms, and among the reported cases, 144 valid reports with identifiable ticket issuance details were confirmed, leading to measures such as verification and suspension of use for 109 cases.

On August 17th, singer Psy's summer concert 'Psy Hmphbok Show - Summer Swag 2024' is taking place at Incheon Asiad Main Stadium.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

As a result, excluding 44 cases of fake tickets, 65 cases across 34 performances were confirmed as actual scalping and led to valid actions. Among these, Psy's 'Heumbok Show' had the highest number with 15 cases, followed by 'Na Hoon-a 2024 Thank You - Last Concert' with 4 cases, and '2024 Younha 20th Anniversary Concert - Twenty', 'The Boyz Second World Tour: Generation', 'Psy All Night Stand 2023 - White Snow Psyro', and '2024 Powerful K-Trot Festival' each with 3 cases.

Looking at the 3,400 scalping reports by performance type, music performances accounted for 2,556 cases, making up 75.2%. This was followed by fan club meetings and festivals with 519 cases, games with 200 cases, and musicals with 125 cases. By transaction site, secondhand trading platforms accounted for 2,721 cases, or 80%, revealing that scalped tickets are mainly traded on these sites. Additionally, 626 cases of scalping transactions were reported through social networking services (SNS) such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.

Assembly member Kang Yoo-jung stated, "Stronger penalties are needed, such as increasing the punishment for detection beyond the profits gained from scalping sales." She added, "At the same time, sellers need to implement technical and physical measures to prevent fraudulent sales."

Meanwhile, those who sell scalped tickets are punished under the Minor Offenses Act with a fine of up to 200,000 KRW, detention, or a surcharge. However, this law, enacted in 1973, only imposes fines of up to 200,000 KRW for scalping transactions conducted on-site, which has limited the crackdown and punishment of scalping conducted online. In response, the government amended the Performance Act last year to prohibit fraudulent sales involving the purchase of performance tickets and admission rights using macro programs and reselling them at a premium, with violations punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or fines of up to 10 million KRW. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is currently pushing to strengthen penalties by raising these punishments to imprisonment of up to three years or fines of up to 30 million KRW.