'Jeon Du-hwan's eldest son' Jeon Jae-guk's publishing company Bookplus files for bankruptcy

Filed for Bankruptcy at Seoul Bankruptcy Court on the 21st
Fourth Largest Wholesaler with Over 600 Business Partners
Liquidity Crisis Triggered by Seizure of Main Transaction Account

It has been revealed that Bookplus, a publishing wholesale company established by Jeon Jae-guk, the eldest son of Jeon Du-hwan, has filed for bankruptcy due to liquidity issues.

According to the publishing industry on the 25th, Bookplus filed for bankruptcy at the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on the 21st. If the bankruptcy is accepted, a bankruptcy trustee appointed by the court will begin the process of calculating the debtor's assets and distributing them to creditors. This procedure is carried out when there is no continuing value for the company, unlike rehabilitation. Bookplus, founded by Jeon in 1998, is a publishing company and the fourth largest wholesaler after Kyobo Bookstore, Woongjin Booksen, and the Korea Publishing Cooperative. It currently has over 600 business partners.

Jeon Jae-guk, founder of Bookplus. Photo by Asia Economy DB

In 2019, Bookplus underwent a share sale, making Mr. A the largest shareholder. However, when including friendly shares, Jeon's shareholding was higher, leading to conflicts and lawsuits over various company rights between the two sides. According to the 2023 audit report, Mr. A's shareholding was 32.43%, Libro's was 26.07%, and Jeon Jae-guk's was 19.71%. Jeon is also currently the largest shareholder of the bookstore Libro.

Earlier this month, Bookplus faced a liquidity crisis as Mr. A seized the company's main transaction bank account following a court ruling. Mr. A seized approximately 480 million KRW on the 3rd and is reportedly planning to seize an additional 700 million KRW. Additionally, upcoming matured promissory notes are also understood to have impacted the bankruptcy. The amount of matured promissory notes from trading publishers due by the end of April is about 450 million KRW. There may be additional debts, so the exact scale of current risk exposure is not confirmed. According to the books, Bookplus's assets amount to 18.95 billion KRW, which is more than its liabilities of 15.66 billion KRW.

The Korea Publishers Association plans to form a creditors' group on the 26th to respond to Bookplus's bankruptcy filing and to assess the scale of damages, including the amount owed by each publisher. Do Jin-ho, Chair of the Distribution Policy Committee of the Korea Publishers Association, said, "We will do our best to minimize the damage."

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