[Updated] Where to Buy K-pop Concert Tickets

Buying K-pop concert tickets can be mind-numbing, especially if you are living overseas. Luckily for you, there are ways to get your hands on concert tickets, even without a Korean credit card or alien registration number.

[This post was updated in August 2021.]

While most Korean online shops only accept Korean credit cards, some ticket selling websites have a global version where you don’t need a Korean phone number and you can easily use a foreign credit card.

Here are the three major concert retailers:

Interpark Ticket

Yes24 Ticket

Melon Ticket

The only catch is that not all the concerts that are available on the Korean site will also be available on the global website. So, what should you do if none of these websites sell the concert tickets you’re trying to purchase? Don’t worry, there’s still a solution: you can ask so-called “virtual concierge services” based in Korea to buy your ticket for you. Be aware though that the tickets will cost more than the original price, as service fees will be charged. Here are some well-known Korean concierge services:

GoWonderfully

Korean Buddy

If you’re an SM Town fan, there’s even another way to get your concert tickets: SM Town Global Travel. They sell tickets to pretty much every SM Entertainment artist’s concert BUT usually you can only get them in a hotel + concert ticket bundle which also means that it’s very expensive (it includes a night in a hotel, though, so if you haven’t booked an accommodation yet you might as well go for it). And the tickets they sell on there are generally pretty close to the stage (at least from what I’ve heard from people who have used their services before).

SM Town Travel also sells tickets to M Countdown to foreigners (for a pretty steep price, though). I have bought tickets there before and they even gave us some SM Town goodies, which is definitely a plus. Other websites specifically targeted towards foreigners are One More Trip and Trazy. One More Trip used to have tickets for The Show and MCountdown (which maybe will be put back on again later), but also offers various tour packages. Trazy often sells tickets for specific concerts or even award shows and they also have The Show tickets.

trazy.com

I am not going into detail about how to get into music shows for free because this is an article about concerts and I personally don’t have that much experience with that, but I still wanted to mention Simply K-pop. I wrote an article on how to get tickets for Simply K-pop two years ago but by now they have changed the admission process so I’ll briefly explain how to apply. Click on this link, check if there are any upcoming shows and write an e-mail for every part of the show you want to attend. If you get in, you should normally receive an e-mail the night before the show.

While we’re at the topic of free shows, the Korean Tourism Organization, as well as the Seoul Metropolitan Government often organize free concerts for foreigners. In addition, KTO sometimes gives out The Show or Music Bank tickets on their Facebook page, so definitely keep an eye on that!

If there’s a certain artist you would like to see, simply keep an eye on their schedule which you can usually find on their official Daum café or website. In addition, VisitSeoul has a (somewhat) updated schedule of all the concerts, musicals and festivals happening in Korea.

I hope this article was helpful 🙂 If you want to purchase cool Korea and K-pop related merch before your next concert, check out my Korea design collection!

Till next time,

Julie

Share

6 comments

  1. Ameera · August 11, 2017

    Hello! As I will be in Seoul this end November and as a huge exo-l, i really want to attend exo planet 4. Do you suggest i rely completely on askahjumma and koreanbuddy? It is my first time and i understand ticketing in korea sells out sooo fast and for exo especially the chances are :”( I understand that i can consider sm global package, but that one is inclusive of accommodation and it’s quite pricey, also i have booked accommodation already. Thank you in advance!!

    • howskorea · August 11, 2017

      Hello 🙂
      I have never booked tickets for an Exo concert before but I’ve heard about how hard it is to get even a single ticket :/ As I’ve never used Koreanbuddy or Askahjumma myself, I am not sure if they will actually be able to obtain tickets at a decent price since they usually buy from resellers :/ I know that SM Global is very expensive but in this case, it might be your best bet ^^” Good luck!~

  2. Celia · August 11, 2017

    Thank you for this article ! ☺️?

  3. Yuji · August 11, 2017

    Hi, Can you tell me where can I find kpop concerts information in seoul? I searched it a lot, but didnt find anything. I’ll go to korea from october until the end of november and I want to watch at least one concert of groups/singers that I like

    • howskorea · August 11, 2017

      If there’s a specific artist you want to see you should check their schedule on their website or Daum cafe 🙂 alternatively, you could check the websites I mentioned in the article 🙂

  4. Pingback: How I Got to Meet Super Junior D&E - How's Korea?

Comments are closed.