Baseball tickets scalped at more than 5 times original price ahead of Korea Series

[Anchor]

The postseason games of professional baseball continues to sell out.

However, scalpers are still taking advantage of this heated atmosphere for profit.

They are active not only on-site but also online.

Tickets are sometimes sold for more than five times their original price.

Reporter Shin Soo-bin has the story.

[Report]

In front of the Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium, where the professional baseball playoffs are being held.

As tickets are sold out, scalpers approach baseball fans who are lingering, hoping to find any canceled tickets.

["Is it off first base? Third base? Samsung?"]

The scalper even approaches the reporters on-site with an alluring offer.

["I can get you into the infield. There are a lot of convenience stores. 50,000 won (per person)."]

Although standing room is not allowed, the scalper cleverly dodges the watchful surveillance of the authorities.

["If there are empty seats, just be discreet and sit there, and if not, you’ll see quite a few people standing."]

Taking advantage of the crowded situation, the scalper shows his ticket to the ticket inspector to distract him and sneaks his group in, abusing the fact that tickets are not checked after entry.

With online reservations becoming the norm, scalping transactions are increasingly rampant online.

Tickets suspected to be scalped are openly circulating on resale and second-hand trading sites.

Some are priced at more than five times their original value.

As of August this year, there have been over 50,000 reported cases of suspected scalping to the online scalping reporting center for professional sports.

[Lee Hyun-woo/Baseball Fan: "I have a lot of friends who want to come to the game. It’s really unfortunate to see people buying from resale sites."]

However, current laws provide no means to stop this.

Both the Performance Act and the National Sports Promotion Act only specify illegal ticket sales using 'macro programs' as punishable offenses.

Even this requires a determination of habituality and commerciality, making punishment difficult.

Even if caught on-site, the maximum fine under the Minor Offense Punishment Act is only 200,000 won.

[Hwang Da-yeon/KBS Legal Advisor: "The level (of punishment) may seem very insufficient. I believe there needs to be supplementary legislation regarding the confiscation or recovery of profits from scalpers."]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recently belatedly begun to amend related laws.

However, scalping methods such as 'ID transferring', which transfters the tickets to the buyer's ID, and 'direct links' that shorten the time it takes to reserve tickets are evolving by the day.

With the Korean Series just ahead next week, the police have launched a deep crackdown.

[Kim Ki-woong/Gwangju Police Agency Crime Prevention Division Chief: "(In addition to on-site crackdowns on game day), we are also monitoring tickets being traded on second-hand trading sites through the cyber crime investigation team."]

It has been 43 years since the launch of domestic professional baseball.

While we have entered an era of ten million spectators, scalping transactions have not been eradicated, dampening the fervor of baseball fans.

This is KBS News, Shin Soo-bin reporting.