Absence of Penalty Regulations for Online Scalping
Premium Resale Brokerage Not Considered Illegal Business
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism "Preparing Amendment to Eradicate Scalping"
Although the revised Performance Act, which focuses on strengthening penalties for ticket scalping, has been implemented, it has been revealed that scalped ticket transactions with premium prices are still rampant. Sellers continue to flock to ticket resale platforms, exploiting a legal loophole that makes it impossible to punish scalping activities unless macros are used.
As of the 7th, tickets for the idol group Seventeen's concert on the 13th, S-seat tickets, were listed for sale at 500,000 KRW each on a ticket resale platform. The official price for these tickets (S-seat) is 132,000 KRW, meaning the tickets were priced at 3.8 times the face value.
On the 7th, tickets for the concert of Jaehyun, a member of the idol group NCT, scheduled for the end of October, are being traded at prices higher than the face value on a ticket resale platform. [Photo by Lee Ji-eun]
In addition, on the same platform, concert tickets for idol group NCT’s Jaehyun and singers Kim Jaejoong and Kim Junsu were being traded at prices 2.9 times (about 250,000 KRW) and 1.6 times (about 130,000 KRW) higher than the official prices, respectively. Sellers can freely trade scalped tickets here by paying a 10% commission on the sales amount. Even if they sell tickets at premium prices above the official price, they are not penalized. As a result, K-pop idol fans who fail to secure tickets for concerts are using this platform as an auxiliary means.
Such intermediary services are not considered illegal business under current law. The revised Performance Act, which took effect in March, only specifies punishment for unfair sales using macro programs. Due to the absence of separate prohibitive regulations on scalped ticket transactions conducted online, there is a limitation in that selling scalped tickets at prices dozens of times higher than the official price cannot be punished. Currently, only scalped ticket transactions occurring on-site at venues such as concert halls or stadiums can be penalized.
As resale platforms have become a kind of scalped ticket trading channel, the performance industry is calling for strong sanctions. This is based on the judgment that the culture of performances is being undermined as more sellers use these platforms to make speculative profits from tickets. A representative from the Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association stated, "Resale platforms and scalpers are unjustly profiting in the middle without the additional costs that agencies and official sellers spend on security technology," and emphasized, "All online sales that do not go through official channels should be defined as scalped ticket transactions and eradicated."
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also recognized the seriousness of online scalped ticket transactions with premium prices and is working on system improvements. Earlier, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission recommended the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism last month on the 12th to improve the system so that online premium ticket transactions can be completely banned. A ministry official explained, "We are preparing an amendment to the Performance Act to prohibit ticket transactions involving premiums regardless of whether macro programs are used," adding, "Regarding peer-to-peer ticket resale, we are listening to the opinions of stakeholders such as platforms and agencies to determine the extent of regulation."
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