Culture ministry imposes fines up to 50 times ticket price to crush scalping

The culture ministry on Friday began enforcing revised decrees that impose fines of up to 50 times the sales price on ticket scalpers while requiring online platforms to actively block illegal transactions. The measures implement amendments to the Performance Act and National Sports Promotion Act passed in February.

Under the new rules, ticket sellers and e-commerce intermediaries must implement technical safeguards including identity verification systems and dedicated reporting functions. Platforms face mandatory obligations to restrict the visibility of posts linked to fraudulent trades and must publicly notify users of potential penalties. Failure to comply with data requests from designated reporting agencies can result in separate fines of up to 5 million won.

To incentivize public cooperation, the ministry introduced a reward system paying whistleblowers up to 50 million won for reporting bulk purchases or half of the collected fine amount for exposing illegal sales.

Minister Choi Hwi-young chaired a joint inspection meeting with 19 agencies on the day the rules took effect to coordinate enforcement strategies. The gathering included representatives from the Fair Trade Commission, the National Police Agency, major booking sites such as NOL Ticket and Melon Ticket, and secondhand trading platforms including Naver and Danggeun Market.

"The ministry will work closely with the police and related agencies to guarantee fair viewing opportunities for concertgoers and sports fans," Choi said during the meeting. He added that authorities are prepared to swiftly amend the Motion Picture and Video Products Act to address emerging scalping issues centered around special screening theaters.