Gov’t to inject 560 bn won in liquidity for small business owners

As the concerns over a series of bankruptcies of small business owners who sell items on TMON and WeMakePrice are growing, the South Korean government decided to provide 560 billion won of liquidity. The amount of damage caused by the TMON and WeMakePrice scandal was initially reported to be 170 billion won but has reached 200 billion won as of now. The amount is likely to increase even more, considering transactions whose payment dates have not arrived yet.

The South Korean government held a task force meeting presided over by Economy and Finance Vice Minister Kim Beom-seok with members of relevant ministries on Monday, and the damage experienced by the TMON issue was examined. According to the government, the amount of payments past their dues to be made by TMON and WeMakePrice amounted to a total of 213.4 billion won as of Thursday – to be specific, 128 billion won for TMON and 85.4 billion won for WeMakePrice.

The government initially estimated the damage to be around 170 billion won. However, as more payments have reached their dues, the total amount increased by 40 billion won. Once a consumer buys an item on TMON or WeMakePrice, payment for the item is made to the seller about 50 to 60 days later. Including the transactions made in June and July, whose payment due dates have not yet been reached, the amount of damage is likely to exceed 200 billion won.

Qoo10 CEO Ku Young-bae released his first official statement on Monday since the scandal broke out. “I will resolve the issue by selling or collateralizing the entirety of my share in Qoo10, which is most of the assets that I own,” Ku said. “I will try my best to acquire liquidity for the two companies by utilizing my personal assets.”


세종=송혜미 기자 1am@donga.com