This article was published on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:12 p.m. on Jan. 8, 2026.
The creditors' meeting of online luxury platform BALAAN, which is undergoing corporate rehabilitation proceedings, was postponed again. The delay stems from a dispute over BALAAN's prepaying a loan to a lender before filing for rehabilitation. Earlier, the court issued a conciliation recommendation ordering the lender to return the funds, but the lender filed an objection, which pushed back the creditors' meeting schedule.
On the 8th, investment banking and legal sources said the court postponed BALAAN's creditors' meeting, originally scheduled for the 15th, to Feb. 5. A legal source said the rehabilitation plan cannot be completed until the lawsuit over the exercise of avoidance rights between BALAAN and the lender ends, and that it appears unlikely the meeting will be held for the time being.
This is the third time BALAAN's creditors' meeting has been postponed. The court initially tried to hold BALAAN's first creditors' meeting in Nov. last year, but creditors composed of tenant companies and others filed to exercise avoidance rights, delaying the meeting. At that time, creditors took issue with BALAAN's priority repayment of a 3.5 billion won loan claim to the lender before starting rehabilitation proceedings in April last year.
BALAAN accepted the creditors' request and exercised avoidance rights. An avoidance right refers to the power to cancel disposals of assets or repayments made by a debtor before the start of rehabilitation proceedings if they are judged unfair. The system is designed to prevent a debtor from unilaterally disposing of assets or repaying only certain parties so that all creditors are not treated equally in repayment.
Ultimately, on Dec. 23 the court issued a conciliation recommendation ordering the lender to return the funds to BALAAN. If the repayment from the lender is returned, the total repayment pool will increase, raising the likelihood that the rehabilitation plan will be approved. Currently, the investment from boutique family office investor Asia Advisors Korea (AKK), which has signed a conditional investment agreement with BALAAN, is about 2.2 billion won. That amount alone yields only a repayment rate in the 5% range.
However, the lender's objection to the conciliation recommendation clouded whether BALAAN can complete the rehabilitation process. In addition, it emerged that the lender is AKK's affiliate, Asia Advisors Korea Finance Lend, leading creditors to say they cannot trust them. In effect, it would mean acquiring control of BALAAN with money repaid to the lender by BALAAN before the start of rehabilitation proceedings.
Future trials are expected to hinge on whether BALAAN knew it was insolvent at the time and nevertheless made repayments favorable only to that lender. If repayments were made on the due date and repaid normally, avoidance rights are in principle difficult to exercise. However, if BALAAN repaid debts before they were due, or repaid only certain creditors knowing the company was already insolvent, those repayments would be subject to avoidance rights.