"Offering 8 consecutive center seats for 180 million KRW. Porsche exchange possible."

Illegal ticket scalping, also known as "black market tickets", is causing a war between artists, their agencies, and concert promoters as the popularity of these artists skyrockets.

Last month, tickets for singer Bruno Mars' two-day concert in Korea were sold out within an hour of going on sale. Following the sellout, numerous posts appeared on second-hand marketplaces offering scalped tickets.

Originally priced at a maximum of 250,000 KRW per ticket, these black market tickets were being sold for over 1 million KRW. One post even offered a set of 8 consecutive center seats for 180 million KRW, with the seller stating, "Porsche exchange possible. Direct cash transactions are also available." This sparked outrage among fans who were unable to secure tickets.

In response, concert promoter Live Nation warned that even if a ticket was in possession, entrance could be restricted if the seat was deemed to have been acquired through fraudulent transactions. They also publicized the sections and seat numbers of confirmed fraudulent transactions, emphasizing their commitment to establishing a healthy concert culture.

Black market ticket trading has long been a problem for popular artists' concerts. In August last year, IU and her agency EDAM Entertainment took action against accounts suspected of fraudulent ticket purchases for her solo concert. At the time, the agency announced that they had imposed "permanent expulsion from IU's official fan club, forced withdrawal from the official fan café, and permanent restrictions on Melon Ticket ID use" on four individuals with confirmed suspicious access attempts.

Despite artists' efforts to curb black market ticket sales, the problem persists due to lax domestic laws. Although offline scalping can be punished under the Minor Offenses Act, penalties such as fines of less than 200,000 KRW or detention are considered ineffective. Moreover, there is no law to punish the majority of black market ticket sales which occur online. Last month, Rep. Lee Tae-gyu of the People Power Party introduced a bill to amend the Minor Offenses Act to include regulations punishing online black market ticket sales.

Recently, Taiwan took strong measures to prevent soaring black market ticket sales after a BLACKPINK concert. According to Taiwanese media, those caught selling scalped tickets can face fines of 10 to 50 times the original ticket price. Those caught using macro programs to purchase tickets can face up to 3 years in prison and fines of around 120 million KRW. Taiwan has also established a reward system for reporting scalped ticket sales.

To address the increasingly rampant black market ticket sales, the Korea Association of Performing Arts Producers (KAPAP) has designated 2023 as the "Year of Eradicating Black Market Tickets" and is exploring solutions to the problem. KAPAP plans to launch an anti-black market ticket campaign and collaborate with relevant authorities to develop countermeasures.

Popular music critic Kang Tae-gyu emphasized, "Strong willpower from related authorities and the establishment of effective measures are more necessary than ever to root out black market ticket sales. The determination and effort of fans not to be swayed by black market sales exploiting their fandom are also important."

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