By Kwon Ji-youn
The South-North Korea Joint Cheering Team has been perplexed and upset due to the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee’s (IAGOC) mishandling of ticket sales.
The group, made up of South Koreans supporting their North Korean neighbors at the Asiad, had been told that most of the events had been sold out before the opening ceremony. But later, the stadiums and arenas were pretty much empty.
“They sent us an official letter that stated that most games taking place in Incheon are sold out,” the group’s spokesman told The Korea Times, Monday. “So we visited the committee’s office several times to ask in person whether there had been any cancellations.”
The group had asked before the Chuseok holiday, which began on Sept. 7, about tickets for North Korean football games. After several inquiries, they bought 300 tickets for the North Korean football game on Sept. 15, and 900 tickets for Saturday’s game.
“So we had no choice but to send 300 and 900 people, respectively, to each game, only to see that the stadium was pretty much empty,” he said.
The organizing committee, which drew concerns over low ticket sales, is now under fire for mishandling the situation, as many fans have had difficulty getting tickets, although most venues are at least half-empty.
According to the spokesman, the IAGOC said that there had been a slip-up in its calculations.
“They said that they had saved a portion of tickets for foreign buyers,” he said. “We don’t know exactly what’s going on, but because they’re being so uncooperative, we can’t help but question their intent.”
Signs in front of ticketing booths at more than a few stadiums and arenas Saturday read “sold out,” but the stands remained half-full at best. Spectators who visited the Seonhak Gymnasium for a handball game were forced to return home as no tickets were available. But the arena was virtually empty.
Only 132 on-site tickets sold for the shooting event at the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range on Saturday, but a “sold out” placard indicated that no seats were available. According to the IAGOC website, the shooting range seats 1,337 people, yet fans were seen watching on smartphones outside the arena.
According to IAGOC data, 819,637 tickets have been sold as of Sunday afternoon, amounting to some 20 billion won in sales, 58.89 percent of the amount they hoped to make. This does not include on-site sales and includes opening and closing ceremony sales.
Asked for more details, staff kept busy shifting responsibility to other departments.
After several phone calls, the IAGOC said that the cause of the apparent problem was all-day tickets. Visitors with all-day tickets can watch all events at specific stadiums or arenas on a given day, but these visitors often leave after watching one competition, leaving few spectators remaining.
“We provide all-day passes because if spectators keep entering and exiting the stadium for each event, it causes major disruptions,” said an organizing committee official. “We’re working on implementing a more effective way to make sure visitors are able to watch events without causing such disruptions.”
The Ganghwa Dolmens Gymnasium was also sparsely populated during the wushu events on Sunday, but on Monday the gymnasium was almost half-full, according to a spectator.
“But what’s interesting is that these spectators were mostly old men and women who did not appear to be immersed in the performances,” the visitor said. “I suspect that the organizing committee had pre-arranged to bring them here. I found this very strange.”
Staff in charge of ticket sales were unavailable for comment.
Foreigners are also having difficulty buying tickets online, even though tickets the IAGOC says tickets have been set aside for them.
“I tried to purchase tickets online, but a ‘flash error’ kept popping up, and the directions that followed were in Korean,” said a tourist surnamed Sieto, 27.
Others from Japan, the Middle East or Southeast Asia are finding it difficult to reserve tickets by phone or e-mail because the Incheon Asiad’s official ticketing agency provides services only in English or Chinese.
“We are not a call center,” said a staff member at Global (Sebang) Tour, the official agency through which foreigners can buy tickets. “We deal directly with agents based in other countries that the National Olympic Council has designated.
“But if individuals call to request tickets, we don’t turn them away. In such cases, we can only communicate in English and Chinese.”