Busan city takes special measures ahead of BTS concert after President Lee Jaemyung criticizes 'overcharging'

SOURCE: 李대통령 "악질" 퍼붓자…부산시, BTS 공연 앞두고 특단 조치

On the 17th, Busan City announced they would launch 'Overcharging QR Reporting System' to prevent harm to tourists during BTS' concerts scheduled for June 12 to 13. Domestic and international tourists can scan the QR code to report overcharging and the report will be forwarded through the Korea Tourism Organization to the relevant local governments and authorities. 

The city has distributed QR reporting stickers and posters on accommodations and posted informational banners on its official website. In addition, the city plans to form a joint inspection teams with district office and begin on-site inspections on accommodations that receive complaints starting next week. If overcharging or violation of reservation conditions are found, they will be reflected int he hotel's official ratings. 

The city also plans to hold a 'Tourism Readiness Inspection Meeting' with related agencies soon to discuss further measures against overcharging in accommodation rates. 

Once the venue is announced, the city will also provide guidance on areas with high concentrations of accommodations that have good public transport access in order to disperse the surge in booking demand. 

The city appears to be taking a more proactive stance following direct criticism and calls for strict action from President Lee Jaemyung on the pervious day. On the 16th, President Lee shared a report on X stating that accommodation prices skyrocketing up to 10 times the normal rate due to BTS' concert, saying "Malicious exploitation that destroys market order and causes major harm to everyone must be rooted out."

He further emphasized, "If overcharging is detected, measures must be taken so that the losses is far greater than the unfairly gained profit." Previously, President Lee had addressed this issue at a cabinet meeting in September, stating that overcharging undermines domestic tourism and instructed officials to 'move beyond administrative guidance and establish systems of fines and penalties.'

Busan Mayor Park Hyungjoon stated, "We will proactively block accommodations that overcharge through the QR reporting system and on-site inspections. We will mobilize all available administrative resources to support the success of BTS' concert."

1. [+2,352][-12] If local governments only start acting after the President calls them out, then they should just scrap local autonomy altogether.

2. [+2,27][-116] Does the Mayor of Busan seriously not see the problem here? Sigh...

3. [+1,945][-103] What exactly is Park Hyungjoon even doing?

Continue reading Busan city takes special measures ahead of BTS concert after President Lee Jaemyung criticizes 'overcharging'

Top #1 student chose becoming an idol over a Foreign Language High School ... TripleS' Park Sohyun: "If I don't become #1, I'm not gonna do it at all"

SOURCE: 전교 1등 우등생, 외고 대신 아이돌 택했다…트리플에스 박소현 "1등 아니면 안 해" [인터뷰①]

A top student who always ranked first in her school and served as the student council's vice president chose the path of an idol. This is the story of Park Sohyun from the 24-member girl group, tripleS.

Recently, we met Park Sohyun at Modhaus office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Although it hasn't been long since her comeback promotions ended, Park Sohyun is spending her days busily, juggling between songwriting and other activities. She was just as diligent during her school years. She shared, "When I was in school, I mainly took on roles like the vice president of student council. In middle school, I ranked first in my entire school."

Because she was such an outstanding student, her parents hoped she would enroll in a Foreign Language High School rather than dreaming of becoming an idol or focusing on dance practice. Park Sohyun shared, "I attended an English academy and prepared to enroll to a foreign language high school, but it just didn't suit me. I didn't feel like it was something that I wanted to do."

Park Sohyun made a quick decision. She said, "I told my parents, 'I don't think I'll be happy even if I go to a foreign language high school. I'm going to do what I want to do.'" She continued, "I'm not the type of person who does things halfway. So, from that point on, I completely let go of my studies." She added, "I had pride. I was stubborn. I thought, 'If I'm gonna do this, I have to be #1. Otherwise, I won't do it at all.' Now that I think of it, I shouldn't have given up on my studies entirely. But I believe that decision is what brought me here today."

Meanwhile, tripleS recently promoted as new dimension, msnz. The members were divided into 4 units, Moon, Sun, Neptune, and Zenith, each showing different charms. Their new album 'Beyond Beauty' surpassed 360,000 copies in the first week of release. After finishing their comeback promotions, tripleS is currently expanding their activities to Japan and continues to promote actively there.

Continue reading Top #1 student chose becoming an idol over a Foreign Language High School ... TripleS' Park Sohyun: "If I don't become #1, I'm not gonna do it at all"