Gu Gyeong-bae: "Sell Entire Assets or Use as Collateral to Resolve Situation" (Update)

Qoo10 CEO Koo Young-bae's Position on TMON and WEMAKEPRICE Settlement Delay Incident
Customer Damage Estimated at 50 Billion KRW
Seller Damage Scale Difficult to Estimate... Existing Settlement Support System Must Be Restored

Ku Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10, has released a statement regarding the recent settlement delay incident involving TMON and WEMAKEPRICE. Along with an apology, he promised to do his utmost to compensate customers, partner companies, and stakeholders for their damages. To this end, Qoo10 is pursuing funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at the group level, and Ku stated that he would use the entire Qoo10 shares, which constitute most of his personal assets, either by selling or leveraging them as collateral to resolve the situation.

On the 29th, Ku said in his statement, "I bow my head in apology to all customers and partner companies who have suffered damages due to the settlement delay incident involving TMON and WEMAKEPRICE." He added that the statement was delayed due to the urgent nature of the situation, and that he would focus on minimizing customer damages and preventing the situation from worsening.

Koo Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10

Ku stated, "The current estimated customer damage identified by both companies is approximately 50 billion KRW, mainly related to travel products," and that "we plan to continue receiving damage reports and processing refunds." To support this, Qoo10 is working to secure emergency liquidity to provide financial support for damage recovery for both companies. Ku explained that they are also pursuing the inflow of overseas funds held by Qoo10, as well as new funds through the disposal or collateralization of Qoo10’s assets and shares.

However, the exact scale of seller damages is difficult to estimate, and there is concern that damages could increase if the companies fail to restore the existing settlement support system with partner companies. Ku said, "We are preparing seller compensation programs such as delayed interest payments and commission reductions for partner companies, and are making efforts to communicate and cooperate with partner companies, financial institutions, and other related organizations." He added, "I sincerely hope that this incident will not negatively impact the e-commerce market in the Republic of Korea."

Qoo10 explained that it is concentrating all its capabilities at the group level to normalize the management of both companies and is striving to secure liquidity for them. Funding and M&A are currently being pursued at the group level. Ku also said, "I will use the entire Qoo10 shares, which constitute most of my assets, by selling or leveraging them as collateral to resolve this incident." He added, "I deeply acknowledge my managerial responsibility and will mobilize all available resources at the group level and use my personal assets to make every effort to secure liquidity for both TMON and WEMAKEPRICE."

Once this incident is resolved, Qoo10 plans to undertake business structure adjustments and management system innovations at the group level. Ku added that they are actively considering improving cost structures through mergers among affiliates, shifting to a profitability-centered business structure, and direct participation in management and the board of directors through partner company cooperatives.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.