The political turmoil surrounding the impeachment has also affected the 1.5 trillion won Timon-Wemap (hereinafter referred to as Timaf) situation. Discussions regarding the 'Timaf Prevention Act,' in which the government had shown strong will, have come to a halt and are now adrift following the declaration of martial law. Additionally, concerns have arisen that the recent economic instability has made it difficult to proceed with recovery procedures through mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
According to political circles and related industries on the 13th, measures to prevent the recurrence of the Timaf situation, which were being discussed in the National Assembly, have been indefinitely postponed. The representative bills are the amendments to the Electronic Financial Transactions Act and the Large Scale Distribution Business Act. In October, the Financial Services Commission and the Fair Trade Commission each proposed these bills, underscoring the need for prompt handling by members of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee.
However, the Timaf Prevention Act did not even pass the threshold of the Political Affairs Committee. During the first subcommittee meeting for bill review held on the 25th of last month, committee members from both ruling and opposition parties postponed the handling of the bill, citing a need for additional discussions considering its relationship with the amendment to the Large Scale Distribution Business Act. The amendment to the Large Scale Distribution Business Act was presented to the second subcommittee for bill review on the 3rd, just before martial law was declared, but was held back due to opposition from the party requesting the Online Platform Act.
A source from the Political Affairs Committee noted, 'Originally, the public hearing for the Online Platform Act was scheduled to be held next week, and then we planned to convene a subcommittee to discuss it together with the Large Scale Distribution Business Act.' The source added, 'Currently, there is no scheduled date for the subcommittee to review the bill. It seems discussions will only resume once the current political situation stabilizes to some extent. For the time being, this state will likely continue.' On the 18th, the Political Affairs Committee is expected to hold only a plenary meeting for current issue inquiries.
In this situation, sellers affected by the Timaf incident are expressing their frustration. Seller A stated, 'Given that the e-commerce industry is in a recession, the chances of a second Timaf incident occurring are high,' and added, 'It has been six months since the incident occurred, and the lack of a legal safety net still makes it inevitable that we feel uneasy as sellers.'
Another affected seller, B, questioned, 'Are we only going to realize our mistakes after the same thing happens again?' noting that the actions driven by the impeachment turmoil and the legislative review concerning damage prevention and alleviation are separate issues.
Meanwhile, EY Han Young Accounting Corporation, which serves as the lead manager for the sale of Timaf and is responsible for the investigation, submitted a report on the investigation results to the court on the same day. According to the report, Timaf is expected to either maintain its recovery procedures or liquidate the company. Earlier, on the 4th, court-appointed administrator Jo In-cheol mentioned during the Timaf business resumption and M&A briefing, 'Two parties have submitted letters of intent (LOI) for acquisition,' adding, 'For now, M&A is the only way to recover the losses of the sellers.' However, the parties that submitted LOIs and the specific sale amounts were not disclosed.
Currently, the Seoul Rehabilitation Court has extended the deadline for submitting the recovery plan for Timaf until February 7 of next year. This decision is interpreted as reflecting the industry's and legal community’s concerns that time is running short for submitting the recovery plan, making the feasibility of M&A inadequate. The best course of action for settling the victims' claims is to normalize the company, sell it, and prepare a recovery plan based on the sale proceeds.
In the industry, it is anticipated that while the extension of the recovery plan submission period allows Timaf to secure the necessary time for M&A, the ongoing economic instability due to the impeachment turmoil makes it difficult to find a new owner. An insider from the e-commerce industry stated, 'If credit card companies and payment gateways do not come in, resuming operations at Timaf will be impossible,' and added, 'Extending the recovery plan submission period is not a panacea. Who would acquire a company that can't operate and is burdened with debt?'
Seller C expressed, 'The incident that broke out in July is still unresolved, and seeing the economic situation worsen further due to the impeachment turmoil makes me feel hopeless.' Consumer D remarked, 'I haven't received any refunds for over six months,' and added, 'In this situation, not knowing when recovery will happen, I feel at a loss for how much longer I have to wait.'
Meanwhile, the third meeting for collective dispute resolution over Timaf's travel, accommodation, and airline products was also held that day. The results of this meeting are expected to be announced as early as early next week.
Earlier, the Korea Consumer Agency’s Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee was reported to comprehensively review the opinions of the stakeholders collected in the two previous meetings to determine the fault-sharing ratio. The deadline for mediation is until the 20th. However, mediation through the committee lacks legal enforceability, so if parties cannot reach an agreement, they will have to proceed with civil litigation.