The South Korean government announced Thursday it will intensify enforcement against ticket scalping for major spring events, including BTS comeback concerts and the professional baseball season opener.
Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Young-su unveiled the special crackdown measures at a ministerial task force meeting on consumer prices held at the Seoul Government Complex. Kim attended on behalf of Minister Choi Hwi-young, who is visiting Italy for the 2026 Milan Winter Paralympics.
The Ministry will strengthen its ticket scalping reporting centers operated by the Korea Creative Content Agency for performances and the Korea Professional Sports Association for sporting events. These centers will be elevated to statutory organizations when revised laws take effect in August.
When reports include booking numbers, authorities will notify ticketing agencies and request necessary action, including ticket cancellation. The government plans to offer incentives such as gift certificates to active informants to encourage voluntary monitoring and reporting.
The Ministry will also expand monitoring to include image analysis, targeting new scalping tactics that use photos instead of text to evade detection.
Under revised laws, the government banned all resale transactions with price markups regardless of whether automated programs were used. Violators face penalties up to 50 times the sale amount, with illegal profits subject to confiscation.
The Ministry has already referred four cases to police involving BTS concert tickets for events at Gwanghwamun Square on March 21 and Goyang Sports Complex from April 9-12.
A public-private council launched on March 5 includes 18 organizations: relevant ministries, five major ticketing platforms, four secondhand marketplaces, professional sports associations, and industry groups.
Minister Choi previously stated at a press briefing, "Ticket scalping is a chronic disease in the culture industry that has gone unsolved for decades. We cannot leave it unaddressed any longer." She added, "My dream is to see headlines by year-end saying 'scalping has disappeared.'"