The Fair Trade Dispute Mediation Council under the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency announced today (August 2) that online platform-related disputes reached 442 cases in the first half of this year.

This represents a 2.2-fold increase compared to the same period last year (200 cases).

Consequently, the proportion of online platform disputes, which accounted for 18.4% of all fair trade-related dispute mediation applications last year, surged by about 10 percentage points to 28.3% in the first half.

Within the online platform sector, shopping-related disputes occurring on open markets such as Coupang, Naver, and Gmarket were the most frequent, with 325 cases (73.5%).

This was followed by the food delivery sector with 57 cases and the second-hand trading sector with 14 cases.

By type, disputes were largely concentrated on account suspensions due to suspected counterfeit products or privacy infringements, shifting responsibility for consumer returns, and excessive advertising fees.

The mediation agency advised merchants selling products on open markets to always retain data proving that items were purchased through legitimate distribution channels as genuine goods.

In addition, the agency urged merchants to accurately record return information in the system when consumers return products and to frequently check the duration and status of their advertising campaigns.

Open market merchants in need of remedy for damages can receive consultation through the mediation agency's "Online Dispute Mediation System" (https://fairnet.kofair.or.kr) or the "Dispute Mediation Call Center (☎1588-1490).

(Photo: Yonhap News)