Why Everyone Is Talking About South Korea’s Push to Shield Small Businesses from Review Terrorism

South Korea’s government held a joint meeting with six major digital platforms and small business groups to address fraudulent reviews, malicious one-star ratings, and merchant protections.

What happened

• Date and Location: On Friday, September 11, 2026, from 14:00 to 15:30, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS, Jungsobencheogi-eopbu) hosted a meeting at the Foundation for Large, Small, and Medium Enterprises and Agricultural and Fisheries Cooperation in central Seoul.
• Key Attendees: A total of 20 participants joined, including Second Vice Minister Lee Byung-kwon, representatives from six major platforms—Naver, Kakao, Baedal Minjok, Coupang, Nol Universe, and Yeogi Eottae—and three merchant groups.
• Core Grievance: Merchants reported severe financial harm from fake reviews by non-visitors and blackmailing customers who award one-star ratings when denied free services.
• Government Actions: The Ministry confirmed plans to provide professional legal assistance through its Unfair Trade Damage Counseling Center and expand mutual growth evaluations (dongban seongjang pyeong-ga) across online platforms.

Why it matters

In South Korea, local merchants rely heavily on ubiquitous delivery, hospitality, and search platforms like Baedal Minjok and Naver for daily revenue. Under current platform dynamics, satisfied customers rarely leave reviews, while a handful of dissatisfied or bad-faith users can dramatically lower an establishment's average rating—a phenomenon local owners describe as a matter of commercial survival.

Because the Ministry of SMEs and Startups oversees protections and cooperation between large corporations and small enterprises, it intervened to balance what it identified as an asymmetric relationship. Vice Minister Lee Byung-kwon noted that the system creates an unfair consumer-tilted structure violating the "principle of equality of arms," leaving vulnerable shopkeepers without adequate recourse when targeted by malicious low ratings.

The numbers

The meeting brought together six platform operators and three small business associations, creating an industry-to-association ratio of 200% (6 platform companies ÷ 3 associations × 100), or a 2-to-1 representation balance among commercial entities.

The current protective measures disclosed by platforms at the meeting are structured as follows:

Fact-check

• Claim: Filing a takedown report immediately removes a review permanently from a platform.
• Ruling: MISLEADING. Platforms apply an immediate temporary "blind" (hidden status) lasting 30 days while the review is investigated, during which it is excluded from the average rating, rather than permanently deleted on the spot.

• Claim: The government disclosed a dedicated monetary budget for small business review dispute compensation during the session.
• Ruling: UNVERIFIED. Official conference details confirm that financial expenses and dedicated support budgets for the initiatives remain undisclosed.

• Claim: Small business associations are demanding sanctions against accounts that repeatedly publish malicious reviews.
• Ruling: TRUE. The Korea Foodservice Industry Association, the Korea Accommodation Industry Association, and the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprises explicitly urged platforms to penalize repeat offenders and institute objective screening criteria.

What's next

Following the September 11, 2026 meeting, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will reflect the merchant demands into enforceable digital commerce policies.

The ministry plans to advance continuous consultations with the online platform sector, implement expanded win-win growth evaluations, and roll out lawyer-assisted counseling through the Unfair Trade Damage Counseling Center as these administrative programs move into the official enforcement phase.

Sources

1. 중기부, 온라인플랫폼 별점제 관련 상생 간담회 개최 — 중소벤처기업부 보도자료
2. 대한민국 중소벤처기업부 — Wikipedia (ko)