As the full-group comeback of BTS and the Gwanghwamun performance approach, drawing widespread attention, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism discovered suspected scalper cases related to BTS performances and requested a police investigation.
On the 11th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Chae Hwi-young, hereafter MCST) said it has taken sanctions, including legal measures, against ticket scalping for popular performances, which has recently emerged as a major social problem.
The MCST said that as a result of focused monitoring of major online secondhand transaction platforms in relation to BTS's Gwanghwamun and Goyang performances, it confirmed postings for a total of 1,868 suspected scalped tickets (including duplicates) that violated the booking policy by offering to sell to others despite the one-ticket-per-person, nontransferable policy.
The MCST said it requested an investigation by the Korean National Police Agency into four cases involving 105 tickets suspected of illegal scalping, such as securing multiple tickets for the same show and selling them at high premiums.
The MCST emphasized that under the booking policy for those performances, even if scalped tickets are purchased, strict identity checks make actual attendance practically impossible.
The organizer warned that for BTS performances, even if fans buy scalped tickets at high prices they may still be unable to attend, and urged extra caution when purchasing tickets if planning to attend, including fans.
In addition, the MCST said that because the organizer announced additional ticket sales for the BTS Gwanghwamun performance, there is a possibility that postings selling scalped tickets and related fraud could surge around that time, and it again requested organizers, ticketing agencies and platform operators to delete postings that violate booking policies and to strictly manage and supervise with measures such as rigorous on-site identity checks, and asked that suspected unfair transactions using macros be reported to the scalper reporting center.
MCST Minister Chae Hwi-young strongly criticized, "Scalping disrupts the distribution order of a healthy performance market and exploits fans' genuine affection for popular culture," and said, "Starting with this request for investigation, we will do our best to establish a fair viewing culture by continuing persistent and decisive measures until scalping is eradicated."
He also emphasized, "Scalping is an issue that will disappear if there are no buyers," and said, "Scalped tickets not only violate the organizer's booking policy, but because strengthened on-site identity verification procedures make actual transfer or conveyance impossible even if scalped tickets are purchased, and because buyers face high risks of fraud such as sellers disappearing, tickets must be purchased through official ticketing channels."
BTS will release their fifth full-length album, ARIRANG, at 1 p.m. on the 20th, and on the 21st at 8 p.m. will hold "BTS comeback live: ARIRANG (BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG)" around Gwanghwamun Square.
[Photo] Big Hit Music
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