This image is unrelated to the article. [123RF]
This image is unrelated to the article. [123RF]

A teenager who used a macro program to bulk-buy professional baseball postseason tickets and resold them at a markup, pocketing around 6 million won ($4,490), has been arrested by police.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency's cyber investigation unit announced Saturday that it had apprehended a juvenile identified only as A on charges of illegally purchasing and reselling professional baseball postseason tickets.

A is suspected of using a macro program to purchase more than 50 tickets from the official postseason ticketing platform in 12 transactions on Oct. 15 and 16, then reselling them nine times through a secondhand trading platform at inflated prices.

A is believed to have resold the tickets at three to six times their face value, reaping illicit gains of around 6 million won.

Police launched the investigation at the request of the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation. Authorities plan to notify the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the findings so that follow-up measures, including the imposition of penalty surcharges, can be taken.

A Busan Metropolitan Police Agency official said that under the revised National Sports Promotion Act, which took effect Aug. 28, even resellers who do not use macro programs can face punishment if they habitually or commercially resell tickets above their purchase price without the seller's consent. "This is a matter that calls for particular caution," the official added.

Culture minister vows sweeping on-site crackdown

[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

Earlier, Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young reported to President Lee Jae Myung at a Cabinet meeting on Oct. 6 that 157 scalpers who had resold professional baseball and idol concert tickets at a premium had been apprehended, presenting the results of the government's anti-scalping initiative.

Choi said at the time that nearly 70,000 reports — 68,158 in total — had been filed by the public in the roughly one month since the law took effect, and that 170 individuals suspected of habitual scalping had been referred to police for investigation, according to Yonhap.

Choi also flagged an emerging workaround in which sellers advertise baseball player photos for sale and bundle tickets as a free gift. According to advice from the Ministry of Government Legislation, that kind of bundling scheme also clearly constitutes scalping, Choi said.

Choi had also signaled a tightening of on-site enforcement to coincide with the professional baseball postseason.

"As this is the first postseason since the law was revised, we will work with the Korean National Police Agency to carry out a sweeping on-site crackdown and respond thoroughly and meticulously," Choi said.


yul@heraldcorp.com