Ticket and Hotel Prices for Prime Spots Soar
"Private Transactions, But Restraint Is Needed"
"Selling prime parking spots for the fireworks festival."
This is a post that appeared on a secondhand trading platform on the morning of the 26th. In addition to this, there are several posts offering to register your car's license plate so you can park near locations where you can view the fireworks. As crowds are expected to flock to the festival and parking is likely to be difficult, people are selling the right to park at their workplace or residence for a fee.
With the 2025 Seoul International Fireworks Festival set to take place at Yeouido Hangang Park in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on the upcoming weekend (27th), so-called "prime spot trading" is rampant. Not only are good viewing spots being traded, but even parking permits are being bought and sold.
One typical example is hiring part-timers to claim the best viewing spots by laying out mats from the morning. The pay ranges from about 50,000 to 100,000 won. Lee Jeongju, a 29-year-old office worker who hired a part-timer for the festival day, said, "Since it's a once-a-year event, I think it's not a bad idea to spend some money and enjoy it comfortably rather than struggling to find a spot."
Resale of festival admission tickets is also happening under the radar. Although the festival organizers have made it illegal to resell admission tickets, there are still many ticket listings online. Seats at the Starbucks Yeouido Hangang Park branch, which originally cost 100,000 to 200,000 won, are now being resold for up to 300,000 won.
Nearby hotels and riverside apartment rentals are also being sold at marked-up prices. In some cases, hotel stays are being traded for several hundred thousand won, sometimes exceeding 1 million won, and it is easy to find sellers offering to rent out their home balconies for a fee.
Secondhand trading is actively taking place to profit from the 2025 Seoul International Fireworks Festival. Screenshot of a secondhand trading platform
Experts point out that organizers need to make more active efforts to ensure that more tickets go to those who truly need them, and that hotels and other nearby businesses should not excessively raise prices during the festival period. Choi Cheol, a professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women's University, said, "There needs to be more effort to improve the system, such as implementing a real-name ticketing system or a lottery." Lee Eunhee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University, added, "Local governments should provide administrative guidance to hotels that excessively increase prices during the festival."
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