Number of Dispute Mediation Cases in Peer-to-Peer Transactions Increases Sevenfold in Two Years... Measures for Improvement Needed

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that on the 18th, under the chairmanship of Vice Minister Jo Kyung-sik, a meeting was held to promote the healthy development of the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) market. During the event, a business agreement was signed with the three major C2C platform companies (Danggeun Market, Bungaejangter, Junggonara) and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). Attendees included Yang Jeong-sook, a member of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, representatives of the C2C platform companies, Lee Won-tae, director of KISA, and Jeong Ji-yeon, secretary-general of the Korea Consumer Federation.

The platform companies agreed to support accurate transmission of product information between sellers and buyers during transactions. This will be implemented in the first half of this year after system development by each company. Additionally, to prevent fraud, they plan to inform customers about fraudulent accounts and major types of scams. They will actively recommend the use of escrow (safe payment) services or their own payment systems and provide prior guidance on precautions for C2C transactions to create a safe trading environment. Each business will strengthen their customer service departments for dispute response and produce dispute resolution guidelines.

With the emergence of C2C platforms, peer-to-peer transactions have become more active, and new markets such as community-based trading and customized resell markets have appeared. However, disputes between sellers and buyers and fraud issues have consistently occurred during C2C transactions. According to KISA’s electronic transaction dispute mediation data, the number of C2C dispute mediation applications increased more than sevenfold from 535 cases in 2019 to 4,177 cases last year. Police data shows that fraud losses in secondhand transactions rose from 30.6 billion KRW in 2016 to 89.7 billion KRW in 2020.

The Ministry of Science and ICT recognizes that these issues undermine trust in the C2C market and negatively affect both the market and users. To actively respond, they explained that they discussed and prepared voluntary improvement measures with related industry stakeholders to prevent disputes in advance.

To review the progress of the business agreement and ensure smooth implementation, it was decided to hold the 'C2C Dispute Prevention Cooperation Meeting' at least twice a year. To secure the effectiveness of self-regulation, it was agreed to expand the agreement institutions to include other C2C platform operators in the future.

Vice Minister Jo Kyung-sik of the Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "The current problems in C2C transactions can be sufficiently prevented by strengthening weak links in the transaction process and closely sharing information between the government and companies. If the industry and government jointly establish standardized criteria for providing transaction product information and make necessary efforts such as expanding the use of safe payment methods during user transactions, a trusted C2C market will be created by consumers."

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