Gyeonggi-do Mediates 62% of Disputes Over Cancellation Fees for Weddings and Doljanchi Due to COVID-19

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has mediated disputes over cancellation fees for weddings or first birthday parties canceled due to COVID-19, resulting in 62.5% of the parties reaching an agreement.

Since the province started operating the 'COVID-19 Consumer Dispute Mediation Center' in March, a total of 107 legal consultation inquiries were received by the end of April.

By type, 54 cases were related to wedding halls, and 39 cases were related to first birthday parties.

Among these, mediation was initiated for 56 cases that applied for mediation, and 35 cases (62.5%) reached an agreement.

Among the 29 wedding hall-related consultations that proceeded to dispute mediation, 19 cases resulted in agreements between both parties, which was the highest number. This was followed by 8 cases where mediation failed, and 2 cases categorized as others (withdrawal of application, loss of contact with the applicant, etc.).

Regarding first birthday parties, out of 27 cases that proceeded to dispute mediation, 16 cases were concluded with agreements, and 6 cases failed mediation.

A provincial official stated, "Unlike natural disasters, there are no standard guidelines such as industry-specific terms and conditions to protect consumers when social disasters like COVID-19 occur. Based on the results of this dispute mediation, we plan to propose the establishment of dispute resolution standards to the Fair Trade Commission."

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