Accusations Of More Fans Being Denied Entry To IU’s Concert Resurface Amidst Current Controversy

Amidst the ongoing chaos around IU‘s H.E.R.World Tour Concert in Seoul recently, where a fan got denied entry despite having a legitimate ticket, netizens have discovered that this was not the first time the singer’s agency EDAM Entertainment‘s ticketing policy has restricted fans from attending concerts.

Recently, a post from last year complaining about the same resurfaced on popular community sites, shedding light on the issue. The post, which was made in September 2023, described the OP’s (original poster) struggle to secure a ticket due to restrictive policies.

The OP bought tickets presumably for IU’s 15th-anniversary fan concert, 2023 IU Fan Concert: I+UN1VER5E, which took place on September 23 and 24 at the KSPO Dome. In their post, the OP mentioned that despite signing up for the fan cafe in advance, they were only able to get a ticket for their daughter, who is an elementary school student. On the day of the concert, OP carried their daughter’s passport and the reservation statement for verification. But the ticketing policies also asked for a passport registration certificate for new passport holders, without which they refused to give OP a ticket.

New passports issued after 12/21/2020 must be presented with the proper passport certification as well (accepted via the official app or in print form). An application certification form for a citizenship/adolescent identification card needs to be sealed by the issuing governmental body and must be presented with the photo, application number, and expiration date sealed with a transparent sticker. If suspicions of modification arise, it will not be accepted. Please understand that all identification checks are subject to additional verification protocols if deemed questionable at any point.

— Notice about the valid forms of identification for IU’s concert

OP mentioned that they tried various alternative methods, but since minors under 14 don’t have any identity certificates, it was difficult. As a last resort, they obtained a family relationship certificate online and went back, hopeful that this might work since a lot of other fans were also in the same position. They mentioned that a lot of people at the venue had traveled from different regions and came with children, but only the mother was able to obtain a ticket due to similar ID verification issues with the child.

While the OP did agree that the parents should have been more thorough in checking the ticketing details, even with sufficient documents, IU’s agency refused to issue the tickets. In the end, the OP was unable to obtain their daughter’s ticket despite submitting her passport, family relationship certificate, and parent’s identification. They added that despite parents agreeing to provide their contact information and sign a document agreeing to take full legal responsibility in case of any accidents, their children were still denied entry, and they were not refunded for the tickets either.

With this post resurfacing, some tried to reason that since the condition was clearly mentioned in their policies, they were technically not at fault. A majority of the netizens, however, reacted negatively to EDAM’s policies, criticizing them for making it hard for younger fans to attend concerts.

• “The more people dig, the more they’re getting exposed. EDAM should really quit the entertainment business.”
• “Wow, it must be really difficult for kids to attend a concert even once. I thought passports would be enough for identification, but I guess not.”
• “There’s no end to this. The fans are really saints. You guys must have held it in for so long.”
• “These jerks.”

• “So, it’s not even just the passport, but you have to go to the district office and get a passport certificate. I don’t understand why I have to do all that just to see a concert…Is it because of the resident registration number? I just don’t get why a resident registration number is needed for a concert. Every time I see this, it doesn’t make sense to me ㅠㅠ…..”
• “But if they didn’t refund the money, isn’t that scamming people?”
  — “The power abuse is crazy.”
• “I don’t want to defend EDAM in this situation, but they clearly announced that you need to bring a passport certificate for a new passport. They faced the situation because they didn’t follow that rule, wasn’t it…”
  — “But that announcement itself is an issue. Are they saying that minors can’t watch concerts if they don’t have passports? What if they’ve never traveled abroad before or planned to?”