Gov't cracks down on hotels that overcharge following price spikes during K-pop events
Starting Tuesday, hotels and other lodging businesses face suspensions for failing to post room rates or charging more than listed prices during concerts and festivals.
The Myeongdong neighborhood is crowded with pedestrians and foreign tourists in central Seoul on March 15.YONHAP
The government will suspend hotels and other lodging businesses if they fail to display room rates or charge more than the posted price in a move to crack down on price gouging during major concerts and local festivals.
Hotels found in violation of the rule will face a five-day suspension on their first offense under a revised Enforcement Decree of the Public Health Control Act, which will take effect on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on Monday.
The move follows repeated complaints over soaring accommodation prices following large-scale events such as K-pop concerts.
Ahead of megaband BTS's concert in Busan in June, some motels reportedly charged an unusually inflated price of as much as 600,000 won ($400) a night. There have also been repeated cases of lodging businesses demanding more than the price displayed when customers made reservations online.
Under previous rules, lodging businesses that failed to post room rates or charged more than the displayed price received only a warning or an order to make corrections for a first offense. Critics argued the penalties did little to deter price gouging because businesses were allowed to continue operating.
Under the revised rules, businesses will receive a five-day suspension for a first violation. A second offense will result in a 10-day suspension, followed by a 20-day suspension for a third violation. A fourth violation will result in an order to close the business.
Foreign tourists receive guidance from a tourism information guide in Jung District, central Seoul, on July 1.NEWS1
The same standards will apply to online booking and sales platforms. Hotels, motels and vacation rentals that accept reservations through their own websites or online booking platforms must display accommodation rates. Charging more than the posted online price during payment or at check-in will be treated the same as violating offline pricing rules.
However, businesses will not be penalized if incorrect prices are displayed because of reasons beyond their control, such as computing system errors.
The revised rules are a follow-up to the government's anti-price gouging measures announced in February. The Health Ministry said it will notify local governments and lodging businesses of the new standards and continue inspecting businesses for failures to display room rates and for overcharging.
"We will strengthen the effectiveness of penalties for failing to display accommodation rates and charging more than the posted price to ensure price gouging does not continue," Kim Han-suk, director general of the Health Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
