Homeplus Co. leaseholder owners, suppliers, the employee representative body Hanmaeum Council, the Homeplus General Labor Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) (hereafter the general union), and the Mart Industry Labor Union Homeplus Branch (hereafter the mart union) urged "prompt implementation of government support and debtor-in-possession (DIP) emergency operating loans."
Leaseholder owners that have stores inside Homeplus Co. locations nationwide, representatives of suppliers that provide products to Homeplus Co., and the employee representative body Hanmaeum Council submitted a petition to the National Assembly, the Financial Services Commission, and the presidential office requesting emergency operating loans. They appealed that if emergency funding support is delayed further, Homeplus Co. will lose its chance at rehabilitation.
The general union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is reportedly preparing a public petition requesting a debtor-in-possession (DIP) emergency operating loan and government support. The mart union leadership has escalated pressure, including by beginning a hunger strike. The petition and public appeal drew participation from ▲ about 2,100 leaseholder owners ▲ about 900 suppliers ▲ the Hanmaeum Council ▲ the general union, representing 87% of employees.
Among suppliers, 2,071 out of a total of 4,600 companies (45%) depend on Homeplus Co. for more than half of their sales. The annual transaction amount for these companies is about 1.8283 trillion won. They argue that if Homeplus Co. fails to rehabilitate, a significant number of small and midsize partner firms could face a chain of management crises.
The 3,900 leaseholder owners operating inside Homeplus Co. locations nationwide also appealed that a drop in customers has caused sales to plunge, making it hard to make a living. Employees, too, are seeing delayed wage payments, increasing the burden of living expenses, utilities, and children's education costs, and say that with health insurance premiums in arrears, even obtaining loans is difficult.
Homeplus Co. said it is also pursuing its own restructuring efforts. A Homeplus Co. official said, "We are already executing a structural innovation plan, including closing underperforming stores and reducing head office staff, and if we can overcome the immediate liquidity crunch through a debtor-in-possession (DIP) emergency operating loan, we can stabilize quickly."
The official added, "Normalizing Homeplus Co. is not the problem of a single company, but about protecting hundreds of thousands of jobs, the existence of thousands of partner companies, and the regional economy and the retail ecosystem," and "we earnestly ask you to listen to the desperate voices on the ground."