[2025 Audit] Korean Series Tickets Soar to 9.99 Million Won... Government Remains Idle Despite Criticism

Jeong Yeonwook: "Scalping Market Expands While Waiting for Legislation"
"Guidelines to Eradicate Scalping and a System to Block Resales Are Needed"

On the 27th, at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, Game 2 of the 2025 Professional Baseball Korean Series between the Hanwha Eagles and the LG Twins took place. LG fans are cheering. Photo by Yonhap News

It has been confirmed that tickets for the Korean Series of professional baseball have soared to as much as 9.99 million won on online scalping sites. Despite issues being raised during the National Assembly audit, criticism is mounting that the government has failed to present effective countermeasures, allowing the scalping market to expand further.

On October 29, Assemblyman Jeong Yeonwook pointed out during the National Assembly audit of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, "Although the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is the supervisory authority, it is merely waiting for the passage of the bill without conducting any actual investigation or issuing guidelines to prevent resale," adding, "What is needed now is not a new system, but the will to act."

According to materials obtained by Assemblyman Jeong, tickets for Game 1 of the Korean Series between LG and Hanwha on October 26 exceeded 1 million won on the scalping site 'Ticket Bay,' and even general admission seats were traded at prices ranging from 490,000 to 550,000 won. Tickets for Game 6, scheduled for November 2, have risen to as much as 9.99 million won.

Assemblyman Jeong criticized, "This is not a premium for a popular game, but a clear case of illegal resale," and added, "Just ten days after Minister Choi Hwiyeong of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism responded during the audit that there was 'no capacity,' the market has expanded even more abnormally."

He further emphasized, "Fans are suffering losses, yet the government is virtually neglecting the situation," and insisted, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism must directly establish guidelines to eradicate scalping and implement a system to block resales."