As controversy over “price gouging” at local accommodations spread ahead of BTS’s concert in Busan, the Busan city government has taken a tough stance.
On the 17th, the city of Busan announced the full-scale operation of a “Price Gouging QR Report System,” which allows tourists to directly report unfair increases in accommodation fees. Domestic and international tourists can scan a QR code to report, and the information is immediately forwarded to the relevant district and affiliated agencies via the Korea Tourism Organization. The city distributed informational stickers and posters to lodging establishments and also posted related banners on its website.
Busan plans to form joint inspection teams with district offices and start on-site inspections next week, focusing on accommodations reported online. If unfair practices such as charging excessive fees or failing to honor booking conditions are detected, these will be reflected in hotel grading evaluations. In addition, a review meeting involving related agencies will be held to discuss measures against excessive accommodation fee hikes.
This measure comes in response to repeated complaints about sharp increases in lodging prices surrounding the BTS concerts scheduled in Busan on June 12-13. In fact, some accommodations near Haeundae Station raised their nightly rates from the usual ₩70,000 KRW (about $47.50 USD) to ₩300,000 KRW (about $204 USD) to as high as ₩1.20 million KRW (about $814 USD) during the concert, and fees were found to have increased 4 to 10 times in other areas such as Dongnae District and Gijang County. There were also claims that some accommodations canceled existing reservations to charge higher prices.
Once the concert venue is finalized, the city of Busan plans to provide information via social media about accommodation clusters with good access to the concert hall and public transportation to alleviate lodging demand concentration.
Park Hyung Jun, mayor of Busan, said, “We will prevent unfair accommodation transactions in advance by combining the Price Gouging QR Report System with on-site inspections,” and “We will mobilize all available administrative resources to support the successful hosting of this concert.”
Earlier, President Lee Jae Myung shared a related article on his X (formerly Twitter) on the 16th and criticized it as “a vicious abuse that disrupts order throughout the market and causes great harm to everyone.” He stressed, “If price gouging is detected, measures must ensure that the loss incurred is far greater than the unfair profits obtained.”
Under the current Public Health Control Act, accommodation providers must adhere to posted lodging fees, and violations can result in imprisonment of up to six months or fines up to ₩5.00 million KRW (about $3,390 USD).