As cases have surged recently in which people use macro programs to buy up sports or concert tickets and then scalp them for hundreds of millions of won, political interest is also rising. At the National Assembly's parliamentary audit, there were also claims that the ticket resale platform Ticket Bay and the government, which is responsible for enforcement, are turning a blind eye to scalping transactions. As several bills to prevent scalping transactions have already been introduced in the National Assembly, legislative discussions are expected to speed up.
According to the political sphere on the 30th, Jeong Yeon-uk, a lawmaker with the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee of the People Power Party, is set to introduce an amendment soon to punish the act of selling scalped tickets at a markup. The current draft has been completed, and the plan is to introduce the bill after review by the Ministry of Government Legislation.
Jeong urged Minister Chae Hwi-young of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to come up with countermeasures against scalping transactions during the committee's comprehensive audit the previous day. According to Jeong's office, tickets for Game 1 of the Korea Series between the Hanwha Eagles and the LG Twins, held on the 26th, were being transacted on Ticket Bay for more than 2 million won. Scalped tickets for Game 6 of the Korea Series scheduled for Nov. 2 sold for as high as 9.99 million won.
Jeong said, "This is not simply a premium for a popular game but a clear illegal resale," adding, "Given that the institutional loopholes that have allowed the preemption and resale structure of popular game tickets have led to an illegal transaction market, institutional improvements are needed."
The Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly also raised concerns about scalping transactions. Cho Seung-rae, a lawmaker with the Democratic Party of Korea on the committee, summoned the chief financial officer of Teamplus, which operates Ticket Bay, as a witness to question whether the platform abetted scalping. Cho said the practice of scalpers securing tickets with macro programs and selling them cannot be viewed as "simple person-to-person transactions."
At the audit the previous day, Cho released footage of a scalper being apprehended and said, "This person used a macro program over four months to reserve 10,000 professional baseball tickets and resell them, with total sales reaching 570 million won," adding, "At this level, shouldn't we see it not as a peer-to-peer secondhand transaction but as habitual or business activity?"
There is also criticism that Ticket Bay raked in enormous revenue by turning a blind eye to scalping transactions. Teamplus, which operates Ticket Bay, is a company in which Cream, a Naver subsidiary, holds a 43.13% equity stake. According to Cho Seung-rae's office, Teamplus's operating profit last year was 10.418793 billion won, more than double the previous year's 4.92535 billion won. Teamplus takes a 10% commission on Ticket Bay transaction amounts. Some in political circles say, "Naver, which holds an equity stake in Teamplus, also bears responsibility."
An official at Cho Seung-rae's office said, "Cream, a Naver subsidiary, is a major shareholder with a 43% equity stake in the operator of Ticket Bay," adding, "As there are claims that Ticket Bay's revenue from scalping transactions constitutes 'criminal proceeds,' large corporations such as Naver and its subsidiaries must fulfill their responsibilities as major shareholders."
Penalty provisions for scalping are scattered across the Public Performance Act, the National Sports Promotion Act, and the Minor Offenses Punishment Act. Currently, Jang Cheol-min of the Democratic Party and Kim Seon-gyo of the People Power Party have introduced related bills. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), the responsible ministry, is asking the National Assembly to legislate in a way that makes attempts to sell scalped tickets at a markup impossible in the first place. At present, punishment is possible when a scalping transaction is consummated, but the ministry says there is a need to regulate so that sellers cannot even list tickets above face value.
An official at Jeong Yeon-uk's office said, "We plan to draft it in a way that supplements the related bills already introduced, and it is currently under review by the Ministry of Government Legislation," adding, "Currently, a crime is established only when a transaction is completed, but the MCST is giving the opinion that the act of selling at a price higher than the face value should itself be prohibited."