Naver—Naver Maps merchant tool let businesses block reservations from foreign customers, prompting discrimination accusations
Naver's SmartPlace tool for merchants included a booking setting, introduced in June 2025 and revealed publicly in July 2026, instructing business owners: 'If you do not wish to accept reservations and bookings from foreigners, change the setting to off.' Naver said the feature was meant to let merchants avoid processing fees (about 3.85%) and chargeback risk on overseas-issued cards rather than to block foreign customers, but acknowledged the wording 'failed to distinguish between foreign customers and cards issued overseas' and committed to renaming it to a 'global reservation/booking setting.'
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Racial Justice | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.295 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (low ×0.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (2 signals)
Straits Times: South Korea's Naver to change 'no foreigners' button after discrimination accusations
Singapore's Straits Times corroborates the Naver Maps booking-setting controversy and the company's commitment to renaming the disputed setting after discrimination accusations.
Korea Herald: Naver to change 'no foreigners' button after discrimination accusations
The Korea Herald reports Naver Maps' SmartPlace merchant tool included a setting instructing businesses that turning it off meant they would not accept reservations from foreigners; Naver said the intent was to let merchants avoid overseas-card processing fees and chargeback risk, and committed to renaming the setting to a 'global reservation/booking setting.'