BTS’s world tour Arirang topped the list for the most reported scalping incidents over the past year, according to data submitted to the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee.
Representative Jung Jun-ho of the Democratic Party revealed that BTS’s Arirang concert received 102 scalping reports, making it the most reported event from September last year to August this year, before the new anti-scalping law took effect.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism identified a staggering 1,868 posts related to illegal ticket sales for BTS concerts, more than 18 times the number of reports, suggesting the actual impact of scalping is likely far more extensive.
Other high-profile events with significant scalping reports included Psy’s Summer Swag (88 cases), Big Bang’s concert (69 cases), Lim Young Woong (64 cases), and Day6’s special concert (51 cases).
International acts weren’t immune, with Oasis (48 cases) and The Weeknd’s Hyundai Card Super Concert (44 cases) also ranking high in scalping reports.
From January 2023 to August, authorities received a total of 7,638 scalping reports.
The music industry dominated these reports at 75%, followed by other events like fan meetings and movie premieres (15.6%), musicals (5.5%), and gaming events (3.6%).
Na Hoon-a’s concert led the music category in scalping reports, while the musical 2026 Spirited Away and the ‘2023 Blue Archive 1.5th Anniversary Festival’ topped their respective categories.
Most illegal transactions occurred on popular resale platforms such as Karrot, Ticket Bay, and Bungaejangter.
Despite the prevalence of scalping, the Ministry has only referred four cases to law enforcement in the past five years.
This low referral rate is due to the fact that only about 10% of reports contain actionable information, such as specific ticket reservation numbers.
While the new Scalping Prevention Act allows for fines up to 50 times the sale amount and offers substantial rewards for reporting, scalpers are adapting. New tactics include using overseas websites and bundling high-priced tickets with merchandise to evade detection.
Rep. Jung criticized the current situation, noting that despite the new law, international scalpers exploit legal loopholes, operating freely in regulatory gray areas and causing domestic fans to suffer doubly.
He stressed the urgent need for more effective measures to combat these evolving scalping techniques, particularly the practice of bundling merchandise with scalped tickets.
