Starting on the 28th, the so-called “Scalping Prevention Act” (Performance Act and National Sports Promotion Act) will go into full effect. Penalties will be significantly strengthened; for example, those caught illegally selling tickets for performances or professional sports events will face fines of up to 50 times the sale price. However, movie theater tickets are excluded from the scope of this law.
With demand for special screening theaters rising due to recent blockbuster hits, the issue of movie scalping has resurfaced. On the 24th, tickets for the “Yong-A-Max” (CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall IMAX) screening of the movie “The Odyssey” were listed for sale on the secondhand ticket trading platform TicketBay at up to 200,000 won per ticket. This is a whopping 10 times the face value (20,000 won).
CGV stated, “Tickets purchased through unauthorized channels may be canceled without prior notice,” and has launched its own crackdown. The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) has also been accepting reports of scalping and illegal transactions involving special-format screenings since the 18th. According to KOFIC, 391 reports of scalping and illegal transactions were received over the six-day period from the 19th to the 25th.
A bill to address this issue has already been proposed in the National Assembly. The “Partial Amendment to the Act on the Promotion of Movies and Videotapes,” sponsored by Democratic Party of Korea Representative Kim Jun-hyuk on November 6, 2024, includes provisions prohibiting and imposing sanctions on the resale of movie tickets at prices higher than the face value or the facilitation of such resales. However, the bill has been pending for one year and nine months without completing the legislative process.
Voices within the film industry are calling for movie tickets to be brought out of the regulatory blind spot, given that regulations on scalping for live performances and sports events are being strengthened. An industry official stated, “Even if scalpers are caught, the measures available under current law—such as imposing administrative fines or penalties—are limited,” adding, “We urgently need mechanisms to effectively manage and oversee this issue within the legal framework.”
