Prosecution Raids Yanolja and Yeogiotte Over Alleged Abusive Advertising Practices

Suspected Violation of the Fair Trade Act

Prosecution Accelerates Investigation into Livelihood Economy Cases

The prosecution has launched a compulsory investigation into online platforms such as Yanolja and Yeogiotte, which stand accused of abusing their dominant position in advertising against small and medium-sized business owners operating lodging establishments listed on their platforms.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang

According to the legal community on March 10, the Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, led by chief prosecutor Na Heeseok, has dispatched prosecutors and investigators to search and seize evidence at the headquarters of Yanolja and Yeogiotte, both of which are under suspicion of violating the Fair Trade Act.

They are suspected of having sold “advertising coupons” to listed accommodation businesses since 2017, then unilaterally invalidating any unused coupons by consumers. The total amount of invalidated coupons is reported to be in the tens of billions of won.

The prosecution considers this business practice to be an abuse of superior bargaining power that disadvantaged the listed businesses.

Previously, in August last year, the Fair Trade Commission investigated the case and imposed fines of 540 million won on Yanolja and 1 billion won on Yeogiotte, respectively. In January this year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups requested the Fair Trade Commission to file a criminal complaint with the prosecution against these companies for violating the Fair Trade Act.

Following the investigation into the 10 trillion won sugar and flour price-fixing case, the prosecution is now focusing its efforts on “platform abuse of power” cases, signaling an acceleration in investigations affecting the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.

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