Controversy Over "350,000 KRW per Night" Overpriced Accommodation Amid BTS Boom... Busan City Says "Image Tarnished"

Some Accommodations Raise Prices 10 Times After Reservation Cancellations, Causing 'Excessive Profits'
Related Meeting to Be Held on the 30th Led by Busan Mayor Park Hyung-jun

BTS, appointed as promotional ambassadors for the '2030 Busan World Expo,' are holding their appointment plaques and posing for a commemorative photo on July 19 at the HYBE headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] As the group BTS commemorates the hosting of the Busan Expo by holding a free concert this October, local lodging businesses have significantly raised their rates, prompting the Busan city government to announce crackdowns.

On the 28th, Busan city stated, "Since the 26th, we have formed inspection teams to conduct on-site assessments and guidance," adding, "We will expand the inspection teams and continue with supervisory inspections."

The city also mentioned that on the 30th, a meeting will be held convened by Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon, gathering all relevant agencies to devise countermeasures.

The city emphasized, "The meaning of the hosting celebration concert is being undermined, and the image of Busan is being damaged," and added, "We will support the concert to ensure it proceeds successfully and meaningfully."

BTS, the promotional ambassador for the 2030 Busan Expo, will hold a free promotional concert on October 15th at a special stage in Ilgwang, Gijang-gun, Busan. It is expected that around 100,000 spectators will attend the concert.

Following this news, some lodging businesses canceled existing reservations and rebooked at prices more than ten times higher. On social networking services (SNS), posts complaining about skyrocketing prices of accommodations located in Gijang-gun and Haeundae have been continuously posted.

It was reported that some hotels’ sea-view rooms reached rates as high as 2.75 million KRW per day, and city-view rooms up to 1.65 million KRW. On the day of the concert, some establishments charged 3.5 million KRW per night, and motels more than 10 km away from the venue were asking for as much as 610,000 KRW per day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.