IU's agency "sincerely apologizes"... Apology to those involved in concert 'fraudulent tickets'

Singer IU's agency apologized and reached an agreement with a fan who was not able to attend singer IU's concert and was expelled from the fan club after being identified as a fraudulent ticket dealer.

On the 3rd, IU's EDAM Entertainment posted a statement titled '2024 IU HER WORLD TOUR CONCERT IN SEOUL position information regarding illegal ticket transaction issue' on the official fan cafe.

The agency said, "Regarding the issue of fraudulent ticket transactions for our artist IU's 2024 Seoul concert, we have received all relevant information from Melon Ticket regarding a fan's recent online post and are providing our position." “It took some time to make the announcement as both Melon Ticket and the performance team went through an accurate fact-checking process,” he said, asking for understanding.

Person A, who previously claimed damages, confessed that he had booked tickets for IU's concert with the help of a friend and was suspected of fraudulent ticket transactions. Although he explained that it was not an illegal transaction, he claimed that during an additional identity verification process on the day of the concert, it was determined that he had purchased a proxy ticket, so he was not allowed to enter the concert or receive a refund, and was permanently expelled from the fan club.

In response to this, IU's agency said, "We have received a large number of reports of attempted fraudulent ticket transactions and confirmation of transfers through our official email. Among them, an email with a screen capture of SNS channel X (formerly Twitter) attached was received as a report." He then explained, "A netizen left a post on

The agency explained, "'Mercenary' means 'a person who will participate in ticketing on behalf of the person due to personal circumstances,' and is a keyword classified as suspicious for 'proxy ticketing.'" They previously announced that in order to prevent fraudulent ticket transactions, there may be disadvantages to 'proxy booking', where someone else buys tickets on your behalf.

In addition, the agency mentioned the decision at the time, saying, "As a result of re-discussion between our company, Melon Ticket, and the performance team, we concluded that since even a single fan should not be unintentionally unfair, we would first lift the complaint and then make a further judgment on the spot." did. He continued, “As much as possible, we tried to organize it so that people could watch the performance if there were no unusual issues during the on-site confirmation process.”

However, during a conversation with the ticket inspector on the day of the performance, Mr. A admitted several times that “a friend took it for me.” The agency appealed, saying, "At the scene, other fans were sitting next to the fan, and the person concerned acknowledged it, so the situation where we initially tried to allow viewing unless there were any special circumstances became meaningless."

IU's side confirmed Mr. A's inquiry after the performance and said that he would provide a full refund, but Mr. A requested, "Please stop providing a refund until we know the exact reason for not being able to receive the ticket." He said he even responded with guidance.

The agency also explained the suspicion of transferring canceled seats to employees and acquaintances. They said, "The seats that were canceled on the day were not resold on site, and none of our executives or on-site personnel transferred them to acquaintances. To prevent such misunderstandings, we also have the actual printed tickets for the seats on that day in their original form." explained.

Next, the agency responded to Mr. “Because we dealt with it in accordance with internal guidelines, individual judgments cannot be made by practitioners and do not apply to this situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, IU's side said, "The 'secret inspector system' was introduced by our company, Melon Ticket, and the performance team to further prevent illegal transactions, so we feel a heavy sense of responsibility due to this incident. The fan in question was displeased from the response process to this announcement. “We sincerely apologize if we have caused any harm. We will strive to reach an amicable agreement and resolve the issue as soon as possible,” he said. “We will also do our best to faithfully deal with the case filed with the Korea Consumer Agency. In addition, we would like to apologize to all fans who felt uncomfortable during the performance ticket reservation process. “I also offer my condolences,” he apologized.

Reporter Lee Min-kyung, Ten Asia 2min_ror@tenasia.co.kr