[At the Crossroads: KOSDAQ-listed Lithium Force② Recovery Uncertain for Half of 11 Billion Won Lent to Byun Jaeseok and Byun Heejo Affiliates]

44% of Related-Party Loans Set as Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
Uncertain Collateral and Undisclosed Use of Funds

Lithium Force, a KOSDAQ-listed company, has reportedly lent more than 10 billion won to corporations related to CEO Byun Jaeseok and his family, and is now treating about half of that amount as uncollectible. There is growing attention on whether some of the funds, which lack sufficient collateral, can actually be recovered.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system as of the end of last year, the amount Lithium Force lent to related parties stood at 10.3 billion won, a 194% increase from 3.5 billion won the previous year. Including accounts receivable and other credits, the total claims amount to 11 billion won. This is equivalent to about 20% of Lithium Force’s net assets.

Of this amount, Lithium Force set aside 4.8 billion won as allowance for doubtful accounts. This accounting method involves preemptively recording as expenses those receivables that are expected to be difficult to collect. Effectively, 44% of all claims extended to related parties are classified as potentially irrecoverable.

The largest loan destination was 'BEPLFE.' Lithium Force lent 5.165 billion won to this entity. BEPLFE was established on November 3 last year with capital of 10 million won. Its stated business purpose is other financial investment activities.

Byun Jaeseok, CEO of Lithium Force, is listed as an inside director of this corporation. Born in 1988, CEO Byun is the son of the late Chairman Byun Ikseong and currently holds a 15.93% stake in Lithium Force, making him the second-largest shareholder. The largest shareholder is Director Byun Heejo, Byun Ikseong's daughter born in 1994, who holds a 19.67% stake.

The CEO of BEPLFE is Lee Yoonsung, who also serves as the CEO of Busan Equity Partners (BusanEP). BusanEP is a private equity fund manager established in 2021. Last year, it considered investments in listed companies such as JKSynapse, Davolink, and RFTech. BEPLFE used the funds borrowed from Lithium Force to purchase certain stocks, but the names of the companies have not been disclosed. According to disclosures, BusanEP recently engaged in stock transactions related to InskoB, a KOSPI-listed company suffering from significant capital erosion, and BEPLFE.

The second-largest loan was extended to 'Storymob.' Lithium Force holds claims amounting to 2 billion won against Storymob. Director Byun Heejo is the CEO of this corporation, and CEO Byun Jaeseok is also a shareholder. Storymob has been under complete capital impairment from 2022 to 2024. Nevertheless, Lithium Force continued to lend large sums to this company, with the amount of uncollected income increasing each year.

In addition, loans were extended to other related parties under the pretext of loans receivable, including Oros Studio (1 billion won), Eversevery (890 million won), Blank Page Studio (830 million won), Igimob (410 million won), and Quantapia (300 million won).

Oros Studio is headed by CEO Byun Jaeseok. Eversevery is led by his mother, Shin Eunsook. Blank Page Studio’s CEO is Director Byun Heejo, with CEO Byun Jaeseok listed as an inside director. At Igimob, both CEO Byun and Ms. Shin serve as inside directors. Quantapia is also led by CEO Byun. Quantapia was delisted last year after being implicated in stock price manipulation.

Notably, it has been found that some loans were extended without securing any collateral. In cases where collateral was obtained, the details are often unclear. For the 5.1 billion won lent to BEPLFE, the company claims to have secured stocks acquired as loans as collateral, but the specific stocks have not been disclosed. At Igimob, they claim to have obtained intellectual property rights (IP) and Igimob shares as collateral, but it is unclear which IPs or what their value is.

The company did not respond to repeated inquiries about the reasons for lending to owner-affiliated companies and setting aside such a large allowance for doubtful accounts.

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