Eight Police Units Deployed for BTS Comeback Concert... Large-Scale On-Site Crackdown on Ticket Scalping

Ministry Announces Measures at Special Task Force Meeting on Livelihood Prices

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on March 12 that it will launch a large-scale on-site crackdown on ticket scalping in cooperation with the National Police Agency on March 21, the day of BTS's comeback concert, to be held at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.

Kim Youngsoo, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated at the "Special Task Force Meeting of Ministers on Livelihood Prices," presided over by Minister Koo Yooncheol of the Ministry of Economy and Finance on March 12, that from 2 p.m. on the day of the concert, eight teams of police officers (a total of 56 officers) would be deployed at the venue to intensively crack down on illegal ticket sales.

Choi Huieong, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (second from the left), delivers a greeting at the inauguration ceremony of the "Performance Sports Ticket Scalping Prevention Public-Private Council" held on the 5th at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Since his inauguration in July last year, Choi Huieong, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has defined ticket scalping as a "chronic and intractable disease of the cultural industry" and has declared a strong commitment to countermeasures. Accordingly, amendments to the Performing Arts Promotion Act and the National Sports Promotion Act, which include provisions such as fines of up to 50 times the transaction amount, reward payments for whistleblowers, confiscation and recovery of illicit profits, mandatory preventive measures for businesses, and the designation and operation of reporting agencies, were promulgated on February 27 and are set to take effect on August 28.

Even before the law comes into force, the Ministry plans to intensively monitor major events and promote the notion that ticket scalping is a "serious crime." The BTS concert will serve as the first test case, and the Ministry intends to respond actively to any scalping activities.

Prior to the BTS comeback concert, the Ministry announced that it had requested the police to investigate four accounts on secondhand trading platforms suspected of using macros for illegal ticket transactions. The BTS concert organizer also plans to actively crack down on ticket scalping on the day of the event. The company will implement several measures, including: the use of mobile QR codes that cannot be captured or reused; issuing wristbands to all attendees after verifying IDs, which cannot be reattached if damaged; checking wristbands when entering toilets and other areas; conducting random on-site ID checks; and removing any individuals caught scalping from the premises.

On March 5, the Ministry also launched a public-private council for ticket scalping prevention at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul. At the inauguration ceremony, Minister Choi Huieong emphasized, "The BTS comeback concert is an important test for our ticket scalping countermeasures," and stated, "The government will take active measures using all available means, even before the law is enacted."

The newly established public-private council plans to discuss a variety of technical, institutional, and cultural measures to eradicate ticket scalping, and will prepare the enforcement ordinances for the amended Performing Arts Promotion Act and National Sports Promotion Act.

Going forward, the Ministry will share information in real-time on posts suspected of macro usage online with the National Police Agency and will develop a nationwide promotional strategy through expert consulting, continuing its ticket scalping eradication campaign.

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