Ruling Party and Government to Push Distribution Industry Act Amendment and Expedite Establishment of Real Estate Supervisory Service (Updated)

High-level party-government-presidential office meeting at the Prime Minister's Residence on the 8th
"Hypermarket online delivery" regulations to be eased

The ruling party, the government, and the presidential office have agreed on an amendment to the Distribution Industry Development Act that would rationalize regulations on online delivery by large discount stores. They also decided to swiftly establish a 'Real Estate Supervisory Service' to oversee illegal activities in real estate transactions.

Park Soo-hyun, senior spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced this at a briefing after the conclusion of a high-level party-government meeting on the 8th.

Yonhap News Agency

Senior Spokesperson Park said, "The party and the government have determined that it is necessary to improve the current offline-centered regulatory framework for the distribution sector, in light of the rapid changes in the distribution environment such as the expansion of the online share," adding, "We have agreed to push for an amendment to the Distribution Industry Development Act."

He continued, "Currently, business regulations under the Distribution Act were introduced at a time when the offline share was high and therefore apply only to offline distribution companies," and added, "We agreed that we must resolve the regulatory imbalance between online and offline channels and create a fair competitive environment."

The current Distribution Industry Development Act includes a provision that restricts the business hours of large discount stores from midnight to 10 a.m. Coupang, which recently suffered a large-scale personal data breach, offers dawn delivery, but large discount stores are unable to provide dawn delivery due to the business-hours restriction, leading to claims that they are being subjected to 'reverse discrimination'.

The party and the government also decided to swiftly prepare measures to strengthen the competitiveness of the distribution industry in order to protect, foster, and support traditional markets and neighborhood commercial districts. In addition, they plan to devise measures to protect the health rights of delivery workers.

Furthermore, the party and the government agreed to swiftly establish a Real Estate Supervisory Service under the Office for Government Policy Coordination and to submit a related amendment bill within this month. Senior Spokesperson Park said, "The Real Estate Supervisory Service will have professional personnel directly conduct investigations and criminal inquiries into major cases, such as violations of laws that span multiple ministries, based on information provided by the relevant agencies."