'1.2 Million Won per Night': Price Gouging at Accommodations Ahead of BTS Concert... President Lee Calls Practices "Malicious"

Busan City Takes Strong Action Against Overcharging by Accommodations
BTS Concert in June Drives Price Surge
City Launches QR Code Reporting System

In response to growing controversy over excessive pricing by local accommodations ahead of BTS’s scheduled concert in Busan on June 12-13, the Busan Metropolitan Government has announced strong measures to address the issue of overcharging.

BTS, who are scheduled to perform in Busan this June. Photo by AP Yonhap News

On January 17, Busan City stated that it will operate an overcharging QR report system that allows tourists to directly report unfair accommodation fees. Through this system, domestic and international tourists can scan a QR code to report overcharging, and the information will be relayed to the relevant local governments and agencies via the Korea Tourism Organization.

Busan City has distributed stickers and posters promoting the system to accommodation providers and posted a guide banner on its official website. In addition, the city has formed joint inspection teams with district and county offices to begin on-site inspections next week at accommodations that receive online reports, checking compliance with regulations and providing guidance to operators. If unfair practices such as excessive charges or failure to honor reservation conditions are identified, these will be reflected in hotel rating evaluations.

This action comes in response to a sharp rise in accommodation prices in Busan during the BTS concert period. Around the event dates, nightly rates for accommodations near Haeundae Station have soared to between 600,000 and 1.2 million won. On accommodation booking platforms, the price for a deluxe double room at a luxury hotel in Busan on the concert day was set at 785,000 won-more than double the previous week’s rate of 298,000 won or the following week’s 390,000 won. A well-known four-star chain hotel in Haeundae, which usually charges in the 300,000 won range, was selling rooms for about 670,000 won on the concert day. Previously, during the free BTS concert held in 2022 to support Busan’s World Expo bid, there was also controversy over soaring accommodation prices. Some accommodations faced harsh criticism for attempting to set prices up to 30 times higher than usual.

Busan City Overcharging QR Report Guide Banner. Screenshot from Busan City Official Website

As the controversy intensified, President Lee Jaemyung shared a news article on his X (formerly Twitter) account the previous day, reporting that accommodation prices in Busan had surged up to tenfold following the announcement of the BTS concert. He emphasized, "Such malicious practices disrupt the entire market order and cause significant harm to everyone, and must be eradicated." He added, "If overcharging is detected, measures must be taken to ensure that the losses far outweigh any unfair profits gained."

Busan City plans to soon hold a tourism readiness meeting with relevant agencies to discuss countermeasures against excessive accommodation price hikes in depth. Once the BTS concert venue is finalized, the city will also provide information on accommodation clusters with good access to the concert venue and public transportation through social media and other channels to prevent booking concentration in specific areas.

Park Hyungjoon, Mayor of Busan, stated, "We will actively conduct online reporting and on-site inspections through the overcharging QR report system to prevent unfair accommodation transactions and rigorously check our tourism readiness," adding, "Busan will mobilize all available administrative resources to support the successful hosting of this concert."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.