At Broadway's Ambassador Theater, home to the hit musical "Chicago", orchestra seats, the best in the house, cost US$111.50 (W100,000). Tickets for the Korean version of the same show, which ended last month, cost W130,000 for a VIP seat in the Sejong Center of Performing Arts in Seoul.

And while the Korean version starred some big names including Ok Ju-hyun and Choi Jung-won, it surely wasn't the original Broadway cast. Even grade-three seats for the musical at Sejong Center cost W90,000, W8,000 more than similar quality seats at the Ambassador.

When the Vienna State Opera, one of the world's three best opera companies, performed Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" at the Seoul Arts Center last month, VIP seats sold for W450,000. Top-grade orchestra seats for the New York Metropolitan Opera's "Turandot," which starred world renowned soprano Hong Hei-kyung, cost W120,000 less. Second- and third-grade seats were also around W100,000 more expensive in Seoul than in New York, costing W350,000 and W250,000, respectively.

Books are also more expensive in Seoul. J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is tagged at US$7.99 (W7,324) at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Manhattan, and nearly twice that at Kyobo Bookstore in Seoul (W13,690).

What about concerts? When R&B superstar Justin Timberlake performed at Madison Square Garden in New York in mid-August, the most expensive tickets cost W140,000. The best seats for Korean pop-idol Rain’s "Rain World Tour in Seoul" late last year cost W176,000. Christina Aguilera’s fans had to pay the same high price when the American pop diva performed in Korea in June.

Movie fans may be the only group who are happy to be living in Seoul. It costs W7,000 to watch a movie at a CGV multiplex on weekdays in Seoul, but some W10,000 at an AMC cinema in New York.

(englishnews@chosun.com )