KCGF to offer up to W300b in emergency guarantees for Homeplus suppliers

Small and mid-sized companies hurt by Homeplus's collapse became eligible Monday for emergency liquidity support through the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund's crisis-response special guarantee program, with up to 300 billion won ($195 million) set aside for the effort.

The Financial Services Commission said it convened a meeting Monday, chaired by Secretary General Shin Jin-chang, with the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Federation of Banks, the five major banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund to discuss financial support measures aimed at minimizing damage to small suppliers affected by the termination of Homeplus's rehabilitation proceedings.

The meeting followed a support package for Homeplus workers and suppliers announced immediately after the Seoul Bankruptcy Court's decision Friday to terminate the retailer's rehabilitation proceedings, and reviewed the current state of financial support and the direction of future responses.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court had ruled that the revised rehabilitation plan Homeplus submitted Tuesday was not viable and ordered the termination of proceedings. If Homeplus secures funding and files an immediate appeal within 14 days, the court could reverse the termination order; otherwise, the decision becomes final and the company would proceed toward bankruptcy.

The Korea Credit Guarantee Fund said it would provide emergency liquidity to small and mid-sized companies that suffered direct or indirect losses, in anticipation of a prolonged delay in settling outstanding payments following the termination of rehabilitation proceedings.

The crisis-response special guarantee program was established last May to support companies hit by US tariffs and industrial crises. Eligible companies receive preferential terms, including a raised guarantee ceiling — typically from 300 million won to 500 million won — and a 0.5 percentage point reduction in guarantee fees. The fund said it would add Homeplus-affected small and mid-sized companies as a new eligible category and operate a dedicated sub-program within the special guarantee framework, capped at 300 billion won.

The fund said it moved swiftly to revise its internal guidelines for the special guarantee program immediately after the court's termination decision Friday, completed the necessary procedures, and opened applications Monday.

Banks said they had put in place and carried out their own support measures for Homeplus suppliers over roughly 16 months since rehabilitation proceedings began on March 4 last year. For loans backed by accounts receivable held by sole proprietors and small corporations, lenders granted 4,454 maturity extensions totaling 4.89 trillion won and 2,999 repayment deferrals totaling 122.3 billion won. For 93 cases requiring emergency funds, banks extended 15.8 billion won in new loans.

Secretary General Shin thanked the banks for their voluntary financial support and urged them to "keep a close eye on things so that the financial difficulties of small suppliers can be eased through additional maturity extensions, repayment deferrals and other measures going forward."

The Financial Supervisory Service is operating a dedicated financial counseling center for Homeplus suppliers and vendors within its main office to handle the surge in inquiries following the termination of proceedings. The center is also coordinating with counseling services at the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency.

Participants agreed to continue active cooperation from the financial sector in coordination with a pan-government task force supporting Homeplus workers and suppliers.