[2024 National Audit] "Government Must Take Responsibility for Timef Crisis"..."Prime Minister Shouts" Expression Causes Temporary Suspension of Audit

Progress of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' National Audit by the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and SMEs Committee on the 8th
Loan execution accounts for about 5.8% of total damage cases
Minister Oh: "Focus more on victims with damages over 100 million won"

On the 8th, during the National Assembly's inspection of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups by the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee, the government's responsibility for the Tmon and Wemakeprice (Timep) incident was discussed.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the Ministry of SMEs and Startups inspection, Lee Eon-ju, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "I have pointed out the government's responsibility regarding the Timep incident, but I believe it is problematic that the government is taking an attitude of having no responsibility for this issue."

Lee said, "I have continuously urged the preparation of interest-free or near interest-free low-interest loan support measures to help the affected sellers," and criticized, "The revised interest rate of 2.5% by the Small Enterprise and Market Service and the Small and Medium Business Corporation is lower than the existing rate but does not seem to be the best."

He added, "The financial support loans from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and the Industrial Bank of Korea have interest rates ranging from 3.8% to 4.9%, which are higher than the average interest rates of household loans from the six major banks, which range from 3.66% to 4.33%," and said, "It seems to be due to guarantee fees, but if this is the case, there is not much difference from getting a loan from existing banks, so what is the meaning of government support if it is done like this?"

He further pointed out, "There are about 50,000 affected companies, but looking at the execution of fund loans, it accounts for about 5.8% of the total number of affected cases," and questioned, "The affected companies are complaining that the support is insufficient, so why is the fund execution only at this level?"

In response, Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, explained, "Although the number of victims is large, about 85% of them suffered damages of less than 1 million won, and even Interpark has many small-scale victims. As initially announced by the government, we are focusing more on victims with damages exceeding 10 million won," adding, "It is understood that about 85-90% are small-scale victims who often did not apply for emergency funds, and about 50% of those with damages over 10 million won have received support."

Jeong Jin-wook, a Democratic Party member, also said, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is responsible for the Timep incident," emphasizing, "The Small and Medium Business Distribution Center knew that Timep was rejected by Seoul Guarantee Insurance when signing the sales channel support project contract in April this year due to 'deterioration of financial soundness.' In response, the center paid the contract performance bond in cash, while the other 38 companies submitted contract performance guarantee insurance, making it clear to anyone that Timep's situation had worsened."

Minister Oh said, "I understand that it was created according to the e-commerce ecosystem at that time, but we are reviewing these issues to prevent unnecessary problems from arising."

Jeong also said, "Prime Minister Han Duck-soo shouted and trembled, saying, 'There is no joint responsibility. How scary joint responsibility is,' and asked Minister Oh if she also thinks there is no joint responsibility," adding, "If legal responsibility is to be questioned, there could be legal responsibility, and political and moral responsibility is naturally present."

However, when Committee Chair Lee Cheol-gyu of the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee told Jeong to "refrain from expressing himself and use vocabulary appropriate to the dignity of the inspection hall because the public is watching," after Jeong's remark that "Prime Minister Han trembled and shouted," their voices rose, and the inspection was suspended for about 30 minutes.

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