Minister Chae Hwi-young of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said regarding idol group BTS's concerts, "This BTS concert will be an important test bed for the response to ticket scalping," vowing a thorough crackdown on scalping. BTS is scheduled to perform on the 21st of this month around Gwanghwamun in Seoul and on the 9th–12th of next month at Goyang Sports Complex.
The Minister said at the "Public-private council launch ceremony to prevent ticket scalping for performances and sports," held that day at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, "As a result of monitoring the BTS concert, multiple suspected scalping cases are being found on some platforms," conveying this message.
In particular, with revised versions of the Public Performance Act and the National Sports Promotion Act—centered on strengthening sanctions, including imposing a penalty surcharge of up to 50 times for scalping—set to take effect starting Aug. 28, the Minister said, "The government will actively respond by using the tools at its disposal even before the revised laws take effect."
The Minister added, "Focused management is needed at the platform level. Only if the public and private sectors respond thoroughly can we reduce demand for scalped tickets and facilitate the swift settlement of the revised law," and "We will also inform the public that even if they purchase scalped tickets for BTS concerts and the like, the reservation may be canceled if caught, and due to on-site ID verification and other measures, actual transfer and acquisition are impossible, which can lead to fraud damages, and we will seek their cooperation."
At the site that day, 18 related organizations participated, including relevant ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), the Korea Fair Trade Commission, and the Korean National Police Agency; five major ticket reservation outlets; four major secondhand transaction platforms; the Korea Professional Sports Association; the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO); the Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association; the Korea Music Content Association; the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO); and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA).
Going forward, the public-private council plans to carry out the following: ▲ blocking illegal activities at the reservation stage ▲ continuous monitoring by platform operators ▲ swift information sharing with investigative agencies ▲ public awareness campaigns.
Meanwhile, BTS will release its fifth full-length album "Arirang (ARIRANG)" on the 20th. The next day at 8 p.m., it will hold the "BTS Comeback Live: ARIRANG" comeback live performance around Gwanghwamun Square. On the 9th of next month, it plans to open the curtain on a world tour that will visit 34 cities worldwide at the main stadium of Goyang Sports Complex.