[Anchor]

The anti-scalping law went into effect starting last month, aimed at cracking down on reselling tickets at exorbitant prices, sometimes dozens of times higher than face value. We took a closer look at what has changed and where the limitations lie.

[Reporter]

First, individuals can now face penalties even if they did not use macro programs.

Under the revised law, regardless of whether a macro program was used, both "illegal sales"—habitually or commercially selling or brokering admission tickets at a premium—and "illegal purchases"—bypassing systems to purchase tickets for the purpose of resale—are strictly prohibited.

Second, a heavy penalty of up to 50 times the original price.

In the past, penalties were limited to imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won, prompting criticism that paying the fine was merely part of doing profitable business.

With the latest revision, surcharges of up to 50 times the total sales amount can be levied.

Third, a reward system for reporting violations.

Informants can receive up to 50 million won for reporting illegal purchases, and up to 50 percent of the surcharge imposed on the seller for reporting illegal sales.

The government aims to aggressively crack down on scalpers not only through direct enforcement, but also by utilizing reports from fans.

However, fans' frustration has only grown deeper.

Controversy 1: Foreigners Living Abroad Are Exempt from Punishment

Because it is difficult to punish foreigners residing overseas under the principle of territoriality, controversy surrounding the scope of punishable subjects has spread rapidly.

In particular, just one day before the anti-scalping law took effect, on August 27, EXO concert tickets sold out instantly, and scalping posts offering tickets at several times their face value were brazenly uploaded on Chinese social media platforms, leaving domestic fans furious.

[Cho Hee-yoon / K-pop Fan: The Chinese market is actually where scalping is on the largest scale. There were so many scalping photos and posts.]

[K-pop Fan A: There must definitely be a way to catch them, but since they are not cracking down on it and instead causing even worse damage, I think a lot of people are dissatisfied.]

Controversy 2: Why Only Concert and Sports Tickets?

Another point of controversy is the scope of application of the anti-scalping law.

The revised Performance Act and National Sports Promotion Act limit the scope of regulation to admission and discount tickets for performances and sports games. Other types of scalping, such as for movie tickets, hotel vouchers, and KTX train tickets, are not subject to reporting or punishment.

Controversy 3: The Criteria for Scalping Remain Ambiguous

[Jang Hyo-kang / K-pop Attorney: I can answer from a legal standpoint, but when I look at it myself, it is still very vague. Because "habitual" means a tendency to repeat a certain act. It is difficult to know someone's tendencies, and commercial activity refers to conducting business transactions. Therefore, a single transaction could be considered commercial, or three or four transactions might not be. So how are we supposed to handle this? In general cases, there are baseline guidelines, which are court precedents. Ultimately, I think that will take a considerable amount of time, and to make it work, violations need to be caught in a timely manner with very heavy penalties.]

The closer you look, the more ambiguous the criteria are for what constitutes scalping, and the reality is that catching and punishing individual violators is no easy task.

How can this issue be resolved?

The first thing pointed out by fans and experts alike is strong technological regulation against macro programs.

[K-pop Fan A: I think the biggest problem right now is that the focus has shifted toward illegal transactions rather than focusing more on macros. If macros continue to bypass systems while telling people not to make illegal purchases, it effectively tells domestic fans not to bother attending at all, which is problematic.]

What ways are there to eradicate scalping and allow everyone to purchase tickets fairly?