Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Busan hotels increase prices by 10 times for BTS concert
A poster for the “BTS Yet to Come in Busan” concert to be held in October in support of the city's World Expo 2030 bid / Courtesy of Big Hit Music
By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
Hotels and other accommodation options in Busan have come under fire for canceling previous reservations and overcharging for rooms by as much as 10 times or more coinciding with a BTS concert that will be held in October to support the port city's bid for World Expo 2030.
The group's agency Big Hit Music announced on Wednesday that the concert “BTS Yet to Come in Busan” will take place at a special concert venue to be set up in northeastern Gijang County. It will be the first concert with all seven members since the group held a Seoul concert in March and declared a halt to group activities back in June.
A minimum estimate of 110,000 people will visit the city for the spectacle. The concert venue will accommodate an audience of 100,000 people free-of-charge while also being live-streamed via a giant screen at Busan Port's international terminal outdoor parking lot, for another 10,000 spectators.
However, the remote location of the special concert venue has raised the need for accommodation.
The stage will be set up at a vacant lot where a glass factory was formerly located, which is 38 kilometers away from Gimhae airport, 38 kilometers away from Busan Station and 51 kilometers away from Ulsan Station, where KTX trains are available.
Therefore, those who wish to attend the concert will most likely need to spend a night before or after the event and the lodging prices have skyrocketed.
An internet user shared online that accommodation spots near the venue are charging 5 million won ($3,725) to 10 million won for two nights' stay around the day of the concert. This is 20 to 30 times hotels' average room prices for two nights in September which are usually priced at 300,000 won.
A motel located 10 kilometers away from the special concert venue was priced at 615,000 won ($458) per night, which is more than tenfold its average room charge of 65,000 won ($48).
As of Sunday, mobile booking platforms including Yanolja show that almost all accommodation around the special concert venue in Ilgwang County is fully booked around the time of the concert date in October.
A premium double room at a three-star hotel in Haeundae, 20 kilometers away from the concert venue, costs over 3 million won ― on the night of the concert. During the Chuseok holidays in September, the same room costs around 110,000 won, while its most expensive room is available at around 200,000 won.
On social media and in online communities, many internet users have shared their experiences of having their reservations canceled and being told to make another reservation at significantly increased prices.
In response, some BTS fans have filed complaints to the Busan Metropolitan Government an d the Fair Trade Commission about the soaring prices.
Other fans have shared information about alternative accommodation in the neighboring cities of Ulsan and Changwon, where hotels have not raised the prices ― like in Busan. Some proposed to rent a tour bus for a round trip between the concert venue and Seoul or Incheon to avoid costly lodging charges.
The Busan Metropolitan Government said it will consider guiding the region's lodging industry to straighten out the overpriced accommodation charges. However, the local government's guidance will be a statutory measure and will not be binding and enforceable.