Assembly moves toward Homeplus hearing as party feud clouds progress

The National Assembly has signaled plans to hold a parliamentary hearing into the near-collapse of Homeplus, once the country's second-largest hypermarket chain, though deepening tensions between the ruling and opposition parties over committee assignments are complicating progress. The Democratic Party of Korea is separately preparing measures to prevent a recurrence, including potential legislation.

The Political Affairs Committee is planning a hearing focused on what has been called the "Homeplus crisis," according to political sources Tuesday. The hearing is expected to target MBK Partners, Homeplus's largest shareholder, and Meritz Financial Group, its largest creditor.

Rep. Yoo Dong-su of the Democratic Party, who chairs the Political Affairs Committee, said Monday that he would pursue the hearing "through consultation between floor managers once the opposition floor manager is appointed." The People Power Party, however, is boycotting all standing committee schedules in protest of what it calls the Democratic Party's unilateral formation of the Assembly's committee structure. Some within the PPP are said to favor pressing ahead with the hearing even without the opposition's participation.

Amid the standoff, the Democratic Party's leadership received a closed-door briefing on the Homeplus situation at a Supreme Council meeting Monday. The session included discussion of support measures for retail industry companies, and a proposal was raised to amend the Distribution Industry Development Act as one potential incentive to attract a buyer for Homeplus.

Attention is now focused on whether the amendment will ease existing regulations — such as the mandatory twice-monthly closure requirement for hypermarkets and restrictions on late-night operations. The amendment is expected to be a contentious process, however, given the wide range of competing interests involved, and a cautious faction within the party carries considerable weight. The Democratic Party's floor leadership plans to wait for both the briefing's follow-up and discussions within a dedicated internal task force before finalizing a detailed response.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party's Euljiro Committee plans to visit the National Pension Service soon to urge it to pull its investment from MBK Partners. The move follows reports that the Financial Supervisory Service recently voted to impose a heavy disciplinary sanction on MBK, and the committee intends to pressure the pension fund to use that ruling as grounds for action. Should the national pension fund withdraw its capital, MBK is expected to face significant damage to its ability to attract investment from both domestic and overseas institutional investors.