Trip Q&A
Cancelled tickets (취소표) in Korea: how seats come back
A sold-out show can still get seats back on the ticket site when buyers cancel or unpaid bookings are voided. Korean fans call these 취소표, "cancelled tickets". You can only buy them on the official site that sells the show. Nobody can promise when or how many will appear, so this page covers only what the sellers' official pages say about how it works.
Four reasons seats go back on sale
1. Cancellations before the deadline
Buyers can cancel until the cancellation deadline. YES24 and NOL World put it at 5pm the day before the show, or 11am on Saturday for Sunday and Monday shows (holidays have their own rule). After the deadline buyers cannot cancel. Some shows set a different deadline; NOL says to check it in the booking details after you buy.
2. Unpaid bank transfers
Korean ticket sites let you book first and pay by bank transfer later (무통장입금). If the money does not arrive by the deadline, the booking is cancelled automatically and the seat comes back. YES24 gives until 11:29pm the day after booking (some shows: the same day), Ticketlink until 11:59pm the day after booking for shows. One NOL show notice we saw set 11:59pm on the booking day.
Popular shows often switch bank transfer off. DAY6's added seats in September 2026 (for the October shows, NOL World) did not accept it, to prevent illegal transfers.
3. Seats added by the organiser
Once the stage is set, organisers sometimes sell seats they held back for equipment, restricted-view seats (시야제한석), or extra seats the venue has approved. DAY6 (NOL World, 21 September 2026, 8pm) and Yang Yoseop (YES24, 29 May 2026, 7pm) announced theirs on the notice page with a time. Added seats often say "no refunds because of the view", so read the conditions first.
4. Fraudulent bookings cancelled
Organisers may cancel fraudulent bookings and sell the seats again. For EXO's KSPO DOME shows (November 2026), bookings judged fraudulent in the fan-club presale were cancelled, and on 16 September 2026 the seats were reopened only to members who had completed the Korean fan-club presale check. Buyers on the global site were not included.
When and where returned seats show up
Only YES24 gives a time. Its FAQ says bank-transfer bookings past the payment deadline are cancelled automatically in sequence from midnight, and each freed seat shows up at once on PC and mobile. With many cancellations it can take a long time, and it can differ by show.
NOL World says its seat map now updates in real time: seats other people take disappear and cancelled seats reappear without refreshing. It also says remaining-seat information for popular shows can lag behind.
Social media posts name "release times", but nothing official backs them, so we leave them out.
Official waitlists
| Service | How it works | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ticketlink 취소표대기 | Apply for a seat you want or a sold-out show; cancelled seats are offered to applicants first. When a seat is secured you get a KakaoTalk, SMS or email message and have 2 hours to book | A fee per seat (fully refunded if you get nothing); credit card only. Cancellations between 10pm and 7am are notified at 7am. Seats with 5 or more people waiting cannot be applied for |
| NOL World booking waitlist | After the waitlist notice, pay within 6 hours | If you do not pay in time, the chance goes to the next person |
Whether either is offered depends on the show. Neither guarantees a seat.
Cancellation fees (when a buyer cancels)
Fees rise as the show gets closer. NOL, YES24 and Ticketlink list, for concerts: KRW 4,000 per ticket from day 8 after booking to 10 days before the show (capped at 10% of the price), 10% at 9–7 days, 20% at 6–3 days and 30% from 2 days before until the deadline. Within 7 days of booking there is no fee (Ticketlink: KRW 1,000 per ticket), unless the show is less than 10 days away, in which case the show-date fee applies.
A Korea Consumer Agency survey (reported December 2025) found that all 120 shows checked on the four main sites set the deadline on the day before the show; none allowed same-day cancellation.
Transfers, resale and the law
As far as we found (18 October 2026), none of NOL, Melon Ticket, YES24 or Ticketlink runs an official resale market. YES24 says tickets cannot in principle be transferred, NOL show notices ban proxy pickup and transfer, and Ticketlink restricts person-to-person sales in its terms and cancels all related bookings when it finds one. NOL World mobile tickets can be sent to a companion, but that is not resale.
The law is stricter too. Since 22 March 2024, reselling tickets bought with macro software at a premium has been banned. Since 28 August 2026, selling at a premium habitually or as a business without the seller's consent, and buying for resale by unfair means, are illegal whether or not a macro is used, with surcharges up to 50 times the sale amount (Ministry of Culture report centre). NOL World says tickets found in illegal trades are cancelled without notice and not refunded.
Paying someone who offers to "catch cancelled tickets for you" or posts "ticket available" is risky. In March 2026 the Seoul police chief said that asking for money to sell a ticket is mostly fraud. See ticket scams.
FAQ
Is there a set time when cancelled tickets appear?
Only YES24 gives one, for unpaid bank transfers (bookings past the deadline are cancelled in sequence from midnight). The other sites only say cancelled seats return to the seat map when they are cancelled.
Can I get returned seats on a global site?
NOL World says cancelled seats appear on its seat map in real time. But some re-releases, like EXO's in September 2026, are limited to members verified for the Korean fan-club presale. Check the show notice.
Is buying a friend's ticket at face value illegal?
The ministry reportedly said that selling one ticket once is generally hard to treat as habitual (September 2026). Separately, every seller bans transfers, and some shows check the booker's ID at entry, so you could be refused.
Official pages
Rules change and differ by show. Check the ticket page and the official notices for your show before you travel.