Open? Close? Confusion surrounding Homeplus has been dragging on for months.

Homeplus, which many thought had shut down, is turning its lights back on at 67 stores on August 7.

It dramatically secured 200 billion won right on the brink of bankruptcy.

However, that money is bound to vanish in an instant to cover overdue wages, supplier payments, and store operating costs, prompting experts to already say, "This isn't a turnaround; it's just buying time."

(Reporting and script: Yeo Hyeon-gyo | Assistance: Kim Chae-hyun, Lee Se-mi | Editing: Park Seo-yeon, Design: Ahn Jun-seok)