“매장 열었는데 납품대금 언제 주나”…홈플러스 납품업체, 법원 의견서 제출

Homeplus, a retailer, submitted an opinion paper to the court, demanding specific plans for repaying outstanding payments to suppliers. The companies, despite continued sales, are frustrated by delayed payment settlements. "Homeplus Retail Collective Decision-Making Committee" representative, Legal Consulting Firm LKB, announced the submission of the formal opinion paper on the 19th.

The core demand is for a clear timeframe on when and how the supplier will receive the outstanding payments totaling over 8 trillion won. The outstanding supplier retail guarantees amounted to approximately 7,939 trillion won as of the end of May. Under current laws, any 'public debt' like a supplier guarantee must be paid first and quickly during the recovery process.

The committee criticized Homeplus' recovery plan, which included a detailed 10-year repayment plan for regular debt but only vaguely addressed urgent repayment for public debt. Recent use of emergency funds by Homeplus has also raised fairness concerns. The company borrowed 2 trillion won from Meitie Financial Group at the beginning of the month to cover store reopening, new product purchases, and late payments to employees.

While the committee acknowledged the need for new product purchases and employee wage protection, they noted that funds were not allocated to compensate suppliers who have faithfully provided goods to the company for years. The committee emphasized that the 7,900 trillion won worth of products supplied by the suppliers have already been converted into cash upon sale at the store.

They stressed that a portion of the emergency operating fund should be used to pay the outstanding amounts. The committee and the representative group stated their intention to request further comment opportunities during the review of the recovery plan, and to take comprehensive legal action, including civil and criminal measures, if necessary. The deadline for approving Homeplus' recovery plan is next month, on the 4th.