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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Seoul, South Korea – September 18, 2025 – Naver Corporation has been fined KRW 200 million (approx. USD 145,000) by a Seoul district court for abusing its market dominance to block competitor Kakao from entering the online real estate listings market.
The Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Im Hye-won) ruled that Naver unfairly restricted its partner real estate information providers from supplying property listings to potential rivals, thereby strengthening its monopolistic position. The court noted that Naver’s conduct significantly limited business opportunities for real estate information firms and had broad negative social impacts.
The case stemmed from 2015, when Kakao expressed interest in launching a similar service. In response, Naver revised its contracts with partner firms to include clauses prohibiting them from providing property listings to third parties.
In December 2020, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) imposed corrective orders and a fine of KRW 1.032 billion (approx. USD 750,000) against Naver for violating fair trade law between May 2015 and 2017. Following a formal complaint request from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in November 2021, prosecutors indicted Naver in September 2022.
Separately, Naver has filed an administrative lawsuit seeking to overturn the KFTC fine, which is still pending at the Seoul High Court.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
