The government is taking measures to mitigate the impact of the Homeplus bankruptcy process by providing livelihood stabilization funds to employees and management stabilization funds to small and medium-sized partner companies.
Lee Hyung-il, First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance, held a meeting of the task force for Homeplus-related agencies at the Government Complex Seoul today (July 3) to assess the impact of the termination of the Homeplus rehabilitation process and discuss support measures for employees and partner companies.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court's 4th Rehabilitation Division decided to terminate the rehabilitation process requested by Homeplus, leading the company to enter bankruptcy proceedings.
However, there remains a possibility that the rehabilitation process could be resumed if Homeplus secures funding and files an immediate appeal within 14 days.
The government plans to focus its response on protecting employees and small and medium-sized partner companies to minimize the ripple effects on the public economy.
First, the government has decided to support the livelihood stability of employees.
Employees suffering from unpaid wages will be provided with government-backed payments for overdue wages of up to 21 million won per person. Additionally, they will be eligible for livelihood loans at a low interest rate of 1.5% per year, up to a limit of 10 million won per person, within the scope of the unpaid wages.
For low-income employees with a median income of 50% or less, the government plans to provide livelihood stabilization loans at an annual interest rate of 1.5%, up to a maximum of 20 million won.
Unemployed workers can receive unemployment benefits equivalent to 60% of their average wage over the three months prior to retirement.
Those who wish to find new employment can also receive customized comprehensive job support services, such as programs to strengthen job competencies.
For those who do not meet the requirements for unemployment benefits, the government will support the establishment of job-seeking activity plans through the National Employment Support Program.
Low-income job seekers will be provided with job-seeking promotion allowances of approximately 600,000 to 1 million won per month to help them focus on their job search activities.
Workers who participate in vocational training supported by the Ministry of Employment and Labor after losing their jobs can also receive loans for vocational training living expenses.
For those not receiving unemployment benefits with a median income of 80% or less, these loans are available up to 10 million won at an annual interest rate of 1.0%.
For small and medium-sized partner companies that rely on Homeplus as a major client, the government will provide a total of 440 billion won in emergency liquidity. This includes 90 billion won in emergency management stabilization funds from the Korea Small Business Institute and the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, as well as 350 billion won in special guarantees from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation.
In particular, the support limit for small business owners will be increased from the existing 70 million won to 100 million won, and the interest rate will be lowered by 0.5 percentage points.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, the government has decided to grant exceptions to the management difficulty requirements, which were previously defined as a "decrease in sales or operating profit of 10% or more," for emergency management stabilization fund support.
For companies that have already received payment deferrals or maturity extensions from banks, the government will seek further cooperation from the banking sector to pursue additional deferrals and extensions.
Partner companies that wish to close their businesses can apply for one-stop closure support, including store demolition costs and legal advice.
The government will also support employment and re-founding through measures such as a job transition incentive of up to 1 million won and a national employment linkage allowance of up to 1.2 million won.
The government plans to hold weekly task force meetings with relevant agencies to ensure that these support measures are implemented in the field without any setbacks.
Additional support measures will be actively sought if necessary.
The government also plans to pursue measures to minimize the impact of store closures on the local economy and to strengthen the fundamental competitiveness of the retail industry.
(Photo: Yonhap News)