BTS ticket scalper buys apartment, 2 commercial properties
K-pop artist seized by police from the home and other locations linked to a man in his 30s suspected of large-scale ticket scalping / Courtesy of Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency
A man in his 30s has been arrested for allegedly buying thousands of tickets to popular concerts and sporting events, including a BTS concert, and reselling them for as much as 30 times their original price.
The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency said Wednesday that the man, whose identity was withheld, was arrested and referred to prosecutors on charges of obstruction of business.
The man is accused of purchasing 8,967 tickets to popular performances and sporting events between September 2018 and April this year and reselling them at inflated prices. His total sales reached 2.4 billion won ($1.73 million).
According to police, he used macro programs that automate repeated inputs and created accounts under the names of seven family members and relatives to buy tickets in bulk.
He allegedly resold the tickets through various methods, including changing delivery addresses, transferring tickets online and handing buyers admission wristbands at concert venues.
Police said he bought a ticket to a BTS concert at Seoul's Jamsil Sports Complex in 2019 for 110,000 won and resold it for 3 million won, more than 27 times the original price.
He also allegedly bought a ticket to a Seventeen fan meeting last year for 110,000 won and resold it for 1.8 million won. A ticket to a 2024 football match between Team K League and Tottenham Hotspur was bought for 400,000 won and resold for 1.65 million won, while a ticket to Bruno Mars' 2023 concert in Korea was bought for 250,000 won and sold for 1.2 million won.
In some cases, the markup approached 30 times the original ticket price.
Police said the man even registered an e-commerce business to make his ticket reselling operation appear legitimate.
After news reports in March said police had busted a large-scale ticket scalping ring, he allegedly stopped selling tickets, closed his business and formatted his computer and mobile phone in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Investigators recovered evidence of the alleged offenses through forensic analysis of a USB storage device and mobile phone.
"I didn't know ticket scalping was illegal, and I faithfully paid my taxes," the man was reported as saying. "I didn't harm anyone."
Police said the man used proceeds from the operation to purchase an apartment and two commercial properties. Authorities secured a pre-indictment preservation order covering the two commercial properties and 1.26 billion won in bank deposits held in his name, preventing the assets from being disposed of before a potential confiscation order.
Police said an amended version of Korea's Public Performance Act took effect Aug. 28, making illicit ticket resales punishable regardless of whether macro software was used.
"Ticket scalping is not simply a private transaction in which tickets are resold at a premium, but a crime that deprives K-pop fans of opportunities to attend performances," police said. "It is also an unfair practice that disrupts consumer prices. We will continue tracking such offenses to help normalize the performance market."
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.