Here They Come! Real Estate Special Investigation Team... Tenants and Star Lecturers Guarding Themselves in KakaoTalk Chatrooms

Host receives 'warning' from room leader over bid
Star instructor deletes or renames KakaoTalk
Special Investigation Week 1... SNS shrinks due to 'self-censorship'
Some argue excessive restrictions hinder free information sharing

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] #"Yesterday, a 59㎡ apartment in our complex sold for 700 million won even though it was on the first floor. If it were a royal floor, it should easily fetch 730 million won." Mr. A, a worker in his 30s, made this comment in a KakaoTalk group chat of apartment residents recently and was warned. The group admin threatened to forcibly remove anyone who mentioned asking prices again.

#Mr. B, a redevelopment specialist and star instructor, recently "blew up" (deleted) a KakaoTalk group chat with about 300 members. The room was intended for sharing promising areas and exchanging opinions. The instructor explained, "There have been no illegal acts like unregistered brokerage so far, but if screen captures leak, it could cause trouble," adding, "To prevent any possible harm, we will disband for a while."

Since the 'Real Estate Special Judicial Police' (hereafter Special Judicial Police), composed of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the National Tax Service, and the Financial Supervisory Service, began full-scale operations on the 24th, various real estate groups active on SNS platforms like KakaoTalk and Naver Band have become very cautious.

The Special Judicial Police are focusing on cracking down not only on existing targets such as up-down contracts and illegal trading of subscription savings accounts but also on brokerage activities in online spaces, price collusion, and violations of advertising laws. This is due to the recent surge in new types of real estate market disruptions, such as proposals for price collusion via SNS or unqualified individuals brokering listings.

In particular, the government views KakaoTalk group chats as having a significant influence on encouraging price collusion and raising local market prices, similar to past apartment women's associations. As anxiety spreads over the government's ability to monitor even private SNS, operators of real estate-related SNS and star instructors are on high alert.

They are trying to evade the crackdown by deleting KakaoTalk groups that could be subject to investigation or by changing the names of online communities. Mr. B, who runs a private online cafe with 800 members, changed the cafe's name from "Real Estate Group" to "Diet Group." He said, "There were no star instructors or apartment price collusion in this group, but given the tense social atmosphere, I will change it for now."

Some online communities have even proposed using 'code words' to avoid detection. For example, using "famous restaurant" instead of "apartment" and "distribution period" instead of "resale restriction period."

The Special Judicial Police crackdown is affecting SNS spaces where illegal acts have not been committed or where the legality is ambiguous. This is because self-censorship operates under the mindset of "I don't know if it's illegal, so better avoid it."

On the other hand, there are voices criticizing the government for extending investigations into private realms like KakaoTalk, arguing it is excessive invasion of privacy. Sharing real estate information via SNS has already become a common practice. Excessive surveillance is said to stifle even healthy information exchange.

Mr. D, a worker in his 30s who lost two KakaoTalk group chats after the Special Judicial Police crackdown, said, "We could quickly exchange information and even use chat room polls when deciding whether to purchase. The government's crackdown led to self-censorship, causing me to lose a network built over a long time," expressing regret.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.