[talk] Byun Woo-seok 2.35 million won, Lim Young-woong 800,000 won… 20-something unemployed woman earns 100 million won by selling tickets on the black market

The police have caught ticket scalpers who used macro programs to purchase a large number of tickets for performances by famous singers and then resell them for profit. The police plan to actively respond to ticket scalpers by forming a joint response council with performance management agencies, entertainment agencies, etc.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Crime Prevention and Order Division announced on the 1st that it had arrested seven men and women in their 20s and 30s on charges of violating the Performance Act. According to the police, they are suspected of using macros (programs designed to repeatedly perform specific tasks with a single input) to purchase concert tickets for famous singers and musicals between 2021 and August of this year, or of reselling the tickets on the second-hand market to make a profit.

The most expensive ticket sold on the black market was a ticket to actor Byun Woo-seok's fan meeting held in July. The ticket, which is worth 77,000 won, was sold for 2.35 million won. Lim Young-woong's concert ticket, which is worth 177,000 won, was sold for up to 800,000 won per ticket.

Among the arrested suspects, Ms. A, an unemployed woman in her 20s, received requests to purchase tickets through blogs and X (formerly Twitter), and then used the buyers’ IDs and passwords to purchase 331 musical tickets and other tickets through macros, earning 100 million won. She was also found to have sold macro programs. Another man in his 20s, Mr. B, sold 15 tickets, including tickets to Lim Young-woong’s concerts, that he had obtained through macros on a second-hand trading site, earning 13.38 million won. A male soldier in his 20s also earned 5.43 million won through the same method.

According to the revised Performance Act in March, those who use macros to illegally sell tickets are subject to imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won.

The police plan to establish a joint response council with major performance and sports venue management organizations, ticket reservation agencies, sports circles, and entertainment agencies, as crackdowns and investigations alone are not enough to resolve the ticket scalping issue. A police official said, “In addition to the Performance Act, we plan to actively consider applying the charges of obstruction of business under the Criminal Act and violation of the Information and Communications Network Act to the arrested suspects based on their criminal methods.”