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Busan Metropolitan City Reports 14.7% Increase in Consumer Counseling in the First Half of 2025… Customized Education Programs to Prevent Consumer Damage

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that in the first half of 2025, the number of counseling cases filed by Busan citizens through the “1372 Consumer Counseling Center” and the “City Consumer Life Center” increased by 14.7% compared to the same period last year.

This accounted for approximately 6.1% of the nationwide total. By category, the most frequent consultations were ▲Clothing and Textiles (802 cases), ▲Mobile Phone Services (470 cases), and ▲Air Passenger Transport Services (429 cases).

In particular, consultations related to Online Video Services (OTT) showed the highest growth, rising sharply from 8 cases in the same period last year to 61 this year.

With the expansion of the online content market, account-sharing platforms** that allow multiple users—such as family members and friends—to share one subscriber’s account* at a relatively low cost have grown popular among consumers. Most of the damages reported were related to account suspension and delays in refunds.

* Account sharing refers to a practice where not only the subscriber but also multiple users such as family members or friends use the same subscription.
** Examples include Pickle Plus, Linkid, Everyview, Butz, Graytag, Shareful, and Share Heaven.

Other significant issues included ▲an increase in credit card text-payment scams (smishing), which accounted for 321 cases and highlighted the need for vigilance regarding mobile payments and fraudulent links, and ▲a rise in damages related to wedding preparation services (49 cases).

By reason, counseling cases were as follows: Contract Termination (5,054 cases), Quality and After-Sales Service (4,334 cases), and Contract Non-fulfillment (2,733 cases). By age group, citizens in their 30s and 40s accounted for about 48% of the total, while by gender, women accounted for 56.8%.

Based on this analysis, the City plans to establish a safer consumer environment and prevent damages by providing ▲customized consumer education targeting young adults, teenagers, and seniors ▲publicity campaigns focused on frequently reported categories ▲and sharing case studies of consumer damages via the City’s website and social media.

In addition, “Consumer Damage Prevention Education by Demographic Group” is currently being conducted through December to promote wise consumer practices among citizens. Institutions wishing to request this education program may apply for groups of 30 people or more through the Busan Metropolitan City Economic Policy Division, Consumer Life Center (☎ 051-888-2141~3).

Kim Bong-cheol, Assistant Mayor of Digital Economy Office, stated, “With the expansion of the digital consumption environment, new types of consumer damages are on the rise,” and added, “We will strengthen the provision of effective education and information so that citizens can consume safely.”