Homeplus pays wages to Express staff, but own employees still waiting

Homeplus, which is undergoing court receivership proceedings, paid a portion of June wages to employees of Homeplus Express, which NS Home Shopping, a unit of Harim Group, acquired on June 22.

According to industry sources Tuesday, Homeplus paid about 73% of this month's wages to Homeplus Express employees that afternoon. The acquisition was finalized earlier when NS Home Shopping completed its full payment on June 22.

Homeplus covered wages for the period from June 1 through June 22, with NS Home Shopping set to pay wages from June 23 onward. The funds are believed to have come from the proceeds of the Homeplus Express sale, fully settled on June 22. However, Homeplus has yet to pay June wages to its own employees. Earlier, on June 23, the company paid all staff the 75% of April wages that had gone unpaid, along with May wages and furlough allowances.

Homeplus is awaiting approval of its rehabilitation plan, with a deadline of July 3. The Seoul Rehabilitation Court has demanded that Homeplus's creditors and union submit documentation by Tuesday explaining how the company plans to raise 200 billion won ($130 million) in additional funding. Homeplus and its stakeholders are understood to have jointly requested an extension of the deadline for approving the rehabilitation plan.

Homeplus plans to submit a revised rehabilitation plan to the Seoul Rehabilitation Court on Tuesday, outlining a restructuring that would consolidate its hypermarket operations to 67 core stores. However, the company has yet to secure a funding plan for the 200 billion won the court has demanded — a key variable in determining whether the rehabilitation succeeds.