SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) – With the political tension between South Korea and China higher than ever over the deployment of a THAAD missile system from the U.S., the strong interest in a football match between the two countries scheduled tonight is seeing tickets resold for up to nearly 1.5 million won.
Near Changsha Helong Stadium, where the highly-anticipated match will be held later today, it’s a common sight to see ticket brokers asking pedestrians if they have any tickets left while holding a sign reading “buying tickets”.
When asked about the price, one ticket broker said he was willing to pay 114,000 won (100 US dollars), which is double the original ticket price of 62,000 won.
According to reports by Chinese media outlet Phoenix Sports, tickets originally priced at 210,000 won are being sold for 1,450,000 won on secondary ticket websites.
Despite the official tickets being priced between 29,000 won and 210,000 won, ticket resellers are taking advantage of the hype in the run up to a match that will take place within hours.
Earlier this week, the South Korean embassy in Beijing issued a safety warning to football fans attending the upcoming World Cup qualifier against China, amid growing anti-Korean sentiment over the deployment of the politically charged U.S. missile defense system.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)