The Democratic Party of Korea's Euljiro Committee summoned Homeplus Co.'s major shareholder MBK Partners and its largest creditor Meritz Financial Group to the National Assembly for Homeplus' rehabilitation. Lawmakers from the ruling party moved to ramp up pressure by even invoking the National Pension Service (NPS), but both MBK Partners and Meritz Financial evaded responsibility, and no clear conclusion was reached.
On the morning of the 9th at the National Assembly, the Democratic Party held a roundtable by calling in Vice Chairman Kim Gwang-il of MBK Partners and CEO Kim Joong-hyun of Meritz Fire & Marine and focused on the issue of rehabilitating Homeplus Co. The meeting at times grew heated, with shouting back and forth. Some Democratic Party lawmakers banged on the table and issued strong rebukes, and Vice Chairman Kim and CEO Kim left the venue immediately after the meeting without offering any particular comment, as if fleeing.
Min Byeong-deok, a Democratic Party lawmaker, criticized after the roundtable that it was also untrue that MBK Chairman Kim Byung-joo was known to have agreed to personally guarantee 100 billion won out of the 200 billion won in operating funds the court demanded for rehabilitation. Min said, "I thought 100 billion won had already been secured because Chairman Kim's side expressed its intent to guarantee it, but MBK said it would not submit the 100 billion won guarantee documents unless Meritz Fire & Marine prepared the 200 billion won loan paperwork."
Min also explained, "Meritz Fire & Marine took the position that, citing the collateral value of the real estate of Homeplus Co.-owned stores, it could go only up to 100 billion won and would execute it only after confirming through a law firm, an accounting firm and the board of directors that there is no possibility of breach of duty regarding the 100 billion won." Lawmaker Kim Nam-geun said, "Aren't the two groups quite blatantly steering this toward liquidation, making even the initially agreed 100 billion won difficult to proceed?"
To ramp up pressure, the Democratic Party also decided to consider using the National Pension Service (NPS) to claw back its investment. Immediately after the roundtable with MBK and Meritz Fire & Marine, the Euljiro Committee held another meeting with National Pension Service Chairman Kim Sung-joo to discuss response measures. Lawmaker Kim explained, "According to the consignment contract between the National Pension Service and MBK, if it is sanctioned by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), that can serve as grounds for recovering the investment and halting future investments," adding, "Of the roughly 2.2 trillion won in funds, if FSS sanctions are finalized, 150 billion won can be recovered immediately." He added, "If conditions are met, up to 1.2 trillion won could be recovered."
The Democratic Party is also pushing to hold a hearing to determine responsibility surrounding this matter. Min said, "If the People Power Party does not cooperate, there was an opinion that we should push ahead on our own," adding, "Personally, while there are hearings that ask about responsibility for past steps that led to liquidation, what we need this time is also a hearing to prevent liquidation."