[The Editors' Verdict] Is Scalping Unstoppable or Unwilling to Be Stopped?

Scalpers Thrive Even at Variety Show Baseball Games
Online Scalping Not Illegal Under Current Law
Legislation to Eradicate Scalping Stalled in the National Assembly

At 1 p.m. on the 20th at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, all 22,000 seats for the JTBC variety show ‘Choegang Baseball’ game were sold out. The infield seats sold out within five minutes after ticket sales began at 11 a.m. on the 10th. This was a big match between Lee Seung-yeop, newly appointed manager of the Doosan Bears, and Kim Sung-geun, debuting as manager of the Choegang Monsters.

The excitement was as intense as a postseason game, and both players and spectators were thrilled. Especially, there were people quietly smiling at the big event held for the first time since the Korean Series. They were the scalpers. The ticket price for the game was 10,000 won per ticket. However, on secondhand trading sites, prices ranged from 80,000 to 100,000 won. There was even an absurd post offering to sell tickets for 1.5 million won each.

Buying cheap and selling expensive is not a crime. It is the basic method of arbitrage. When there are products or financial instruments with different values in different markets, arbitrageurs exploit the gap where the law of one price (一物一價) is broken, buying in one place and selling in another to seek risk-free excess profits. Arbitrage is often seen in the virtual asset market. This is due to the existence of the “Kimchi Premium,” which refers to the price difference of coins between Korean exchanges and overseas exchanges. In many cases, the price of the same coin is higher on domestic exchanges.

Unlike arbitrage, scalping is problematic because it is fundamentally not a fair transaction. Scalpers often secure tickets unfairly for popular performances, sports games, and events. For example, scalpers use “macro programs” that automatically handle the process from login to seat selection and payment page, making it impossible for ordinary people to compete. Even sending the whole family to a PC bang hoping for a slightly faster connection speed than at home is useless.

Scalpers sell the tickets they have hoarded on various secondhand trading sites. Under current law, online ticket trading is not illegal (some scalpers even sell macro programs). Offline scalping can be punished under the Minor Offenses Act, but there are no penalty provisions for online trading. Even if caught for offline scalping, the penalty is only a fine of up to 200,000 won, which lacks effectiveness.

Moreover, even if scalpers demand outrageous prices, those who really need tickets end up buying them reluctantly. Although there are tales of people tricking online scalpers by dragging out transactions with various excuses, those seeking tickets are fundamentally at a disadvantage.

As the situation unfolds this way, secondhand trading platforms conduct special monitoring or receive reports of suspected bulk purchases. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Police Agency have also introduced measures to prevent and eradicate online scalping, but these often amount to little more than show.

There has been little progress in the National Assembly either. In the 21st National Assembly, seven bills were proposed to confiscate and recover illegal profits from scalping transactions, but five remain pending. The only bill passed was an amendment to the Performance Act, which only added the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s efforts to prevent scalping.

(Postscript) The scalped ticket price for the 2018 Russia World Cup final soared to 62 million won per ticket. The Russian government and FIFA took measures to eradicate scalping by issuing personalized spectator cards, which greatly reduced scalping transactions. Qatar’s government is somewhat different. In July, the Qatar Ministry of Justice announced that illegal sales of 2022 Qatar World Cup tickets would be fined 500,000 Qatari riyals (about 183 million won) and could result in up to one year imprisonment. On the 14th (local time), Qatar’s Ministry of Interior announced that three foreigners were arrested for illegal World Cup ticket sales and are expected to be fined 250,000 Qatari riyals per ticket. It remains to be seen whether the threat of punishment will eliminate scalping.

Nam Seung-ryul, Head of Issue Investigation Department

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