‘Illegal ticket scalping’ with increasing punishment, early response is important

After the popular Netflix cooking competition program Black and White Chef aired, so-called 'scalping', in which restaurant reservation tickets for the cast members are sold at higher prices, has become prevalent. With more than 110,000 users flocking to make reservations for the restaurant that won the program's final winner, buying a reservation ticket has become a challenge.

In fact, a post offering to purchase a reservation for two at the restaurant for 700,000 won appeared on various second-hand trading sites. However, the original selling price was only 100,000 won, raising the seriousness of illegal ticket scalping.

This kind of illegal ticket scalping is often found in our daily lives, occurring in a variety of ways, from sports games to famous singer concerts. As of August this year, the number of scalping transactions reported to the professional sports scalping report center was 51,405, an increase of nearly eight times compared to 6,237 in 2020. The same goes for the popular music performance field, which is most affected by ticket scalping. According to statistics from the Korea Creative Content Agency's ticket monitoring center, the number of reports of ticket scalping in the performance field is increasing rapidly every year: 359 cases in 2020, 785 cases in 2021, 4,224 cases in 2022, and 1,973 cases as of October last year.

The reason why scalpers were able to thrive regardless of field was because the punishment was extremely weak. Selling ticket tickets was classified as a misdemeanor and was punishable by a fine of less than 200,000 won, detention, or fines. However, even this did not punish online ticket scalping as it only imposed fines for on-site ticket scalping.

As a result, it was pointed out that punishment was needed for all ticket sales that occurred both online and offline, and discussions on revising the law began in earnest. Afterwards, the illegal sales standards were supplemented, and the Performance Act and the National Sports Promotion Act were revised in March and September. What is noteworthy here is that the punishment has been greatly strengthened. In case of scalping, the seller will be subject to imprisonment for up to one year and a fine of up to 10 million won. The government did not stop there, but also announced plans to subdivide the punishment standards by size of profit and raise the level of punishment from the current level.

As awareness of social issues related to ticket circulation is strengthening, ticket transactions through illegal channels should be avoided as much as possible. As seen earlier, ticket scalping is a punishable matter regardless of whether it is online or offline, so it is best to reserve tickets through an official ticket office if possible. Nevertheless, if you are involved in a crime, it is advisable to consult with an expert to defend against the charges.

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