Korean Government Changes Laws Due To BTS Fans Visiting Korea

There will be fair pricing now.

It has been announced that if accommodation providers in Korea cancel reservations without valid reasons ahead of large-scale events such as idol concerts, they will now face an immediate business suspension. Restaurants and lodging facilities that charge excessive prices different from the posted rates will likewise be suspended without warning.

On February 25, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun Cheol announced these measures as part of an “anti price-gouging plan” at the expanded National Tourism Strategy Meeting presided over by President Lee Jae Myung. The policy comes after reports that, following news of BTS’s concert in Busan, nearby accommodation prices surged by as much as 7.5 times and some businesses unilaterally canceled existing bookings to resell rooms at higher prices.

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The government plans to revise the Public Health Control Act and related laws within the year so that if already-reserved accommodations are canceled for price increases or resale purposes, an immediate five-day business suspension will be imposed. Repeated violations will result in longer suspensions — 10 days for a second offense and 20 days for a third, with a fourth violation leading to an order to close the business. Until now, there had been no sanctions for unilateral cancellations without valid reasons.

Restaurants or lodging businesses that fail to display prices in advance or do not comply with posted prices will also receive an immediate five-day suspension. Repeated violations will expand to 10 days (second offense) and 20 days (third offense). Currently, first offenses typically result only in a corrective order or warning, with suspensions applied from the second offense onward. The same sanctions will apply to foreigner-only urban guesthouses such as Airbnb listings, as well as rural guesthouses and hanok experience accommodations, which previously lacked sufficient rules on posting and complying with price lists.

Companies will be required to set their own maximum lodging rates by period and report them once a year in advance to encourage reasonable pricing. While the government will not intervene in price setting, the aim is to ensure price transparency.

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