After Purchasing 2.9 Billion Won Worth of Tickets, 99% Canceled... Korail Sues 5 'Yamche Members'

One Person Purchased 1.6 Billion KRW Worth of Tickets... Charged with Obstruction of Business
"Appears to Be for Accumulating Credit Card Records through Number of Transactions"

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) has filed a complaint with the police against five membership members who purchased a large number of train tickets and then canceled most of them, on charges of obstruction of business.

According to Yonhap News on the 24th, KORAIL submitted a complaint to the Daejeon Dongbu Police Station requesting an investigation into five individuals for obstruction of business related to railway operations. It was reported that over the past five years, they purchased train tickets worth 2.93 billion KRW (49,552 tickets) and then canceled tickets worth 2.098 billion KRW (48,762 tickets). This corresponds to a cancellation rate of 99.2%.

Citizens are moving to board the KTX train.

The member who purchased the most tickets, Mr. A, bought tickets worth 1.607 billion KRW (30,385 tickets) and canceled 99.2% of them, amounting to 1.595 billion KRW (31,144 tickets). It was confirmed that he returned the tickets on average within 7 days after payment on the website. The average purchase amount of the other four members ranged from 160 million KRW to about 580 million KRW, and among them, two were found to have returned the tickets on the same day of purchase.

The reason for their repeated large purchases and cancellations of train tickets appears to be to accumulate credit card transaction records through the number of transactions.

In the complaint, KORAIL stated, "We believe that their repeated large purchases and cancellations without actual intention to use the trains were aimed at gaining benefits by increasing credit card transaction records through the number of transactions. As a result, customers who wanted to purchase tickets were unable to do so, and the corporation was significantly hindered in performing normal ticket sales and other operations," demanding a thorough investigation.

On the 20th, the Board of Audit and Inspection disclosed the results of KORAIL’s regular audit report, pointing out insufficient measures against the behavior of purchasing and then canceling large quantities of train tickets, and instructed KORAIL to prepare improvement plans. KORAIL has been monitoring users who purchase and cancel large quantities of tickets and taking actions such as membership withdrawal. However, some members who canceled large amounts exploited a loophole by purchasing tickets on the KORAIL website instead of the KORAIL Talk app, thus avoiding monitoring.

To resolve the issue where passengers in need of tickets cannot make reservations due to such behavior, KORAIL has strengthened reservation criteria starting next month, limiting individuals to purchase a maximum of 10 seats per train and a total of 20 seats per day.