Seoul: The government has assessed the progress in implementing supportive measures for employees of the struggling supermarket chain Homeplus Co. This evaluation follows a court decision to terminate the company's rehabilitation proceedings, as reported by the finance ministry on Friday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, First Vice Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il led a task force meeting to examine the progress of support measures for affected workers and subcontractors. This comes after a commitment made last week to provide up to 21 million won (US$13,980) in substitute payments for unpaid wages.
The labor ministry has received 692 inquiries and has been disseminating information on available support programs to those in need. The task force has also identified a sum of 33.3 billion won in unpaid wages for the month of June. The government has pledged to closely monitor any further delays in wage payments.
In response to the financial strain, South Korea has introduced low-interest loans of up to 10 million won at a 1.5 percent interest rate, available within the scope of the unpaid salaries.
During the task force meeting, participants committed to ongoing monitoring of the impact on workers and business partners following the cessation of Homeplus' rehabilitation proceedings. They also expressed readiness to develop additional measures as necessary.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court's decision to end the rehabilitation proceedings for Homeplus, which is fully owned by private equity firm MBK Partners, came after the supermarket chain underwent court-led debt restructuring beginning in March of the previous year.