Bipartisan Initiative Accelerates Push for Statutory Status in Land Committee
Legal Basis Expected for Policy Proposals and Disciplinary Authority
Platform Industry Voices Concerns Over "Brokerage Monopoly" and Calls for Checks
Legislation to convert the Korea Association of Realtors (KAR), which has over 100,000 licensed real estate agents nationwide, into a statutory organization is rapidly gaining momentum following bipartisan agreement. The bill to promote statutory status was first proposed in 2022 but was scrapped after controversy, only to be revived three years later. In response, the proptech (real estate IT company) sector has voiced strong concerns, stating, "This will lead to the exclusion of technology-based startups within the collusive structure of the brokerage ecosystem," and "It grants exclusive status without including any checks or balances."
According to the real estate industry on July 29, discussions about converting the Association of Realtors into a statutory organization have accelerated since the inauguration of the Lee Jaemyung administration. Bok Giwang, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, and Kwon Youngjin, a lawmaker from the People Power Party?both members of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee?jointly proposed a partial amendment to the Real Estate Agents Act, which includes designating KAR as a statutory organization.
A similar bill was proposed in 2022. However, it failed to pass due to opposition from the proptech industry and academia. The current amendment has re-emerged as a "relaxed version," excluding mandatory membership and supervisory authority provisions. If the bill passes, the association will take on public functions such as membership eligibility screening, ethical discipline, and policy recommendations. It will become the largest statutory organization in the country by membership count.
There are predictions that the bill is highly likely to pass, given that it was jointly proposed by both ruling and opposition party committee members. In a political climate where bipartisan legislative cooperation is extremely rare, the organizational power of over 100,000 real estate agents appears to have influenced political movements. KAR was established in 1983 and operated as a statutory organization until 1999, when it was converted into a voluntary association due to institutional reforms.
Since then, the association has made restoring statutory status its long-standing goal. President Kim Jongho has repeatedly emphasized the need for statutory conversion in several meetings with committee members over the past two months. One of the main justifications is "preventing rental fraud." The association stated, "With the limited administrative capacity of local governments, it is difficult to prevent complex real estate transaction damages," and emphasized, "By becoming a statutory organization, we will strengthen self-regulation and monitoring functions to establish a safe brokerage order." The association also said, "The passage of the bill will be an opportunity for real estate agents to fulfill their public responsibilities as professionals."
The proptech industry remains wary, arguing that the current amendment is "only superficially relaxed." Cho Inhye, secretary-general of the Korea Proptech Forum, stated, "Once it becomes a statutory organization, the establishment of competing associations will be blocked, and technology-based startups could be excluded within the collusive structure of the existing brokerage ecosystem." She added, "Unfair practices such as lawsuits, refusals of joint brokerage, and disadvantages for platform-affiliated agents are already widespread in the industry. If the association becomes a statutory organization, such problems could become even more severe."
There is also criticism that the association has pushed for statutory conversion without making sufficient self-regulatory efforts or running campaigns to prevent rental fraud. An official from a platform company said, "Although they use the justification of preventing rental fraud, in reality, it is just part of a roadmap to strengthen internal authority." The official added, "In an environment where the statutory status of the association is becoming a foregone conclusion, at the very least, checks and balances must be implemented in parallel to ensure that market competition and consumer choice are not restricted."
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