Korea Association of Realtors: "Market Ecosystem Must Be Protected from Platform Companies' Tyranny"

Lee Jong-hyuk, President of the Korea Association of Certified Realtors, is giving the opening remarks at the "Policy Improvement Seminar for the Sustainable Development of Life-Integrated Service Industries" held on the 22nd.
[Photo by Korea Association of Certified Realtors]

[Asia Economy Reporter Noh Kyung-jo] The Korea Association of Licensed Real Estate Agents emphasized the protection of the market ecosystem by pointing out various issues and related cases of real estate platforms.

The association announced on the 23rd that it presented improvement measures to prevent monopolistic damages by major real estate platform companies and to promote coexistence at the "Policy Improvement Seminar for the Sustainable Development of Life-Closely Related Service Industries (Online Platforms)" hosted by Rep. Choi Seung-jae of the People Power Party the day before. About 300 members from the association and the Korea Accommodation Industry Central Association attended the seminar.

Moon Seo-jin, a delegate of the association (Member Policy Research Committee), gave a presentation titled "Structural Problems of Proptech Platforms Related to Real Estate Brokerage and Industry Opinions." He emphasized the need to protect the business rights of licensed real estate agents against the tyranny of platform companies that infringe on their business rights under the name of proptech (a compound of property and technology).

Delegate Moon said, "The threat of platforms, which began in chauffeur services, taxis, and accommodation industries, is now extending to professional license holders and licensed real estate agents who have protected neighborhood businesses for a long time," adding, "All markets are at risk of being monopolized by a few platforms."

Violations of fair trade included ▲ discriminatory treatment between simple advertising brokers and Zigbang Partners ▲ excessive advertising fees collected after securing market-dominant positions ▲ strengthening platform dominance through unfair customer inducement ▲ inducement of tied conditional transactions. The limitations and risks of virtual reality (VR) home tour services, the possibility of licensed real estate agents becoming dependent on platform companies, indiscriminate inducement of licensed real estate agent startups, and disruption of brokerage fees were also pointed out as platform problems.

Lawmakers and officials attending the seminar agreed that legal measures and regulations to curb the monopolistic behavior of platform businesses are essential. They also recognized the need for strong regulation and legislation against real estate platforms that irresponsibly pressure small business owners and monopolize profits through various businesses.

Meanwhile, the cases of abuse of dominant positions in online platform markets by industry presented at the seminar, along with related institutional improvement measures and legislative tasks, will be used as legislative materials.

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