“Hanwha ○○○ Player Photo Sale (with Gift).”
A post offering to sell A4 paper printed with photos of a baseball player recently appeared on the secondhand trading site Bun-gae Jangteo. The price was 120,000 Korean won per sheet. The secret behind the price lay in the “gift.” The seller said, “We will specially give two tickets for the first-base cheering section at the NC Dinos vs. Hanwha Eagles game on August 29 to those who purchase the photo.” The regular price of a baseball ticket is 25,000 Korean won per sheet. It was a “sneaky scalped ticket” disguised as selling player photos but actually selling baseball tickets with a markup.
The so-called “Anti-Scalping Act” (revised Performance Act and National Sports Promotion Act), prepared to eradicate scalping of sports events and performances, went into effect on August 28. However, even during the first weekend after the law took effect, from August 29 to 30, online scalping transactions continued unabated. On September 31, a post offering to sell a Starbucks Americano gift certificate, worth 4,700 Korean won, for 700,000 Korean won appeared on the secondhand trading site Joonggonara. The gift was a ticket to the September 6 Seoul Gocheok Baseball Stadium game where a male idol will serve as the ceremonial first pitcher. This post was also a scalping advertisement selling a baseball ticket, whose regular price is 100,000 Korean won per sheet, with a markup.
Despite strengthened regulations on scalping, illegal transactions continue because it is difficult to detect every online transaction. Sellers post on secondhand trading sites to find buyers, then move to separate chat rooms to conduct transactions. After the transaction, they delete the post or switch accounts to erase traces. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the number of reports on professional sports scalping transactions increased 2.8-fold over two years, from 14,728 cases in 2023 to 41,239 cases last year.
There are also numerous illegal transactions that are not subject to the Anti-Scalping Act. Tickets to the “Seoul International Fireworks Festival 2026,” to be held at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul on the 5th, are being traded on various secondhand sites for 350,000 Korean won, more than three times the regular price of 110,000 Korean won. However, under current laws, scalping regulations are limited to sports and performances. A source from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “Fireworks festivals are not classified as ‘performances’ under the Performance Act, making it difficult to regulate scalping transactions.”
Movie ticket scalping is also a regulatory blind spot. Recently, as the movie “The Odyssey” gained popularity, IMAX popular seat tickets were traded with markups of hundreds of thousands of won. However, under current laws, there is no legal basis to punish reselling movie tickets with a markup. The government has decided to amend the law to prevent movie ticket scalping. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young stated at the “Joint Public-Private Scalping Prevention Inspection Meeting” held on August 28, “We will promptly push for amendments to related laws.”
jasdooit 
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