Floor leader Kim Byung-kee of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 15th urged the relevant authorities to impose stern sanctions on MBK Partners, the private equity fund manager blamed for triggering the Homeplus rehabilitation crisis, criticizing its passive stance as "the shamelessness of talking about social responsibility without properly spending a single penny of its own money."
At the party Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, Floor Leader Kim said, "MBK Partners deceived the public," noting, "Last month, lawmakers and I met Chairman Kim Byung-ju of MBK at Homeplus. They said there was a preferred bidder and that they would defer store closures, but yesterday they denied ever saying that."
He said, "Just a few days after the meeting, they reversed themselves and switched to an open call for buyers," adding, "Finding an acquirer by Nov. 10 is in fact impossible. They are using this as a pretext for a 'eat-and-run' scenario to wash their hands and leave. They are pretending to seek a buyer to get a liquidation decision approved."
Regarding Chairman Kim Byung-ju of MBK Partners emphasizing a 500 billion won personal grants at the National Policy Committee audit the day before, he warned, "In reality it is conditional or nothing more than a guarantee. It is shameless to talk about social responsibility without properly spending a single penny of one's own money," adding, "We will never tolerate it."
Floor Leader Kim said, "Does the legislature look like a joke?" and urged, "Agencies such as the Fair Trade Commission, the Financial Services Commission, and the FSS should impose stern sanctions on MBK." He continued, "We ask the National Pension Service and financial institutions to actively consider retrieving their investments in accordance with principles and the principles of social responsibility investing," stressing, "We will respond strongly so that such immoral groups can no longer accumulate wealth at the expense of small business owners."
Chairman Kim appeared at the National Policy Committee audit the previous day over the Homeplus rehabilitation crisis and the Lotte Card hacking incident, bowed and said he would fulfill "social responsibility," but he held back answers to specific questions such as the method of Homeplus's rehabilitation and requests for additional personal contributions.