Vice Chairman Kim denies prior preparation for Homeplus recovery process

Kim Kwang-il, vice chairman of MBK Partners and co-CEO of Homeplus, emphasized on the 18th that there was "no prior preparation" for the suspicion that he was aware of the credit rating downgrade in advance and prepared for corporate recovery proceedings. He stated, "The goal is to repay the principal amount of the debts."

On this day, Kim attended the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee emergency inquiry on "Homeplus-MBK Partners" held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, where he noted that the corporate recovery procedure was urgently reviewed after the credit rating dropped.

In response to the point that "it is impossible to apply for corporate recovery proceedings early in the morning four days after the downgrade on the 28th," co-CEO of Homeplus Jo Ju-yeon, who also attended the inquiry, remarked, "We discussed this only after the credit rating downgrade of Homeplus was confirmed."

Homeplus applied for corporate recovery proceedings at the Seoul Bankruptcy Court early in the morning on the 4th, about four days after Korea Credit Ratings and Korea Ratings downgraded the short-term credit rating of Homeplus from 'A3' to 'A3-.' The proceedings were subsequently initiated on the same day in the morning.

Kim Seung-won, a member of the Democratic Party, pointed out, "While it is suspicious that the Seoul Bankruptcy Court's decision to initiate corporate recovery proceedings came on the same day of the application, I am more curious about when the preparations began," adding, "The submission documents exceed 50, making it unreasonable to have completed the issuance after the downgrade."

Member of the Democratic Party Lee In-young raised the same concern. He stated, "After the downgrade on Friday, the 1st of March is March 1st, a Saturday, the 2nd is a Sunday, and the 3rd is a public holiday, making it unreasonable to prepare documents during the government office shutdown periods."

However, Kim noted, "Immediately upon the downgrade of the credit rating, we began emergency measures with executives, and I thought that there would be no other option after the 1st of March, so we prepared. The board's resolution was on the 3rd of March, but the preparation of documents was done separately from the board's resolution."

Meanwhile, regarding the debt repayment plan, Kim stated, "We aim to fully repay all principal debts within the recovery procedure," adding, "As for commercial liabilities, payments are being made, and there isn't much remaining balance, whereas the emergency liabilities amount to 2.2 trillion won."