66.4 billion won in July-August wages still unpaid
Arrears more than triple those of previous record-holder Daewoo Winia
DB fund at 79.9%, DC fund at 85.9% of legal minimum
Workers face growing risk as rehabilitation drags on
![Homeplus suspended operations at all its stores Monday after running out of funds to cover operating costs. Members of the Mart Industry Labor Union, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Service Workers' Federation, chant slogans at a press conference held Tuesday in front of Homeplus headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, to denounce MBK Partners' unilateral cancellation of a scheduled meeting and to announce the union's position. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/15/rcv.YNA.20260714.PYH2026071415580001301_P1.jpg)
Homeplus, which is undergoing corporate rehabilitation, has accumulated unpaid wages approaching 400 billion won ($297 million) — the largest amount ever recorded for a single company in South Korea. With 66.4 billion won in wages and severance still outstanding and retirement reserves falling 125.4 billion won short of the legal minimum, concerns are mounting that workers could face even greater losses.
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Wi-sang of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee obtained data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor showing that cumulative wage arrears at Homeplus from December last year through August this year totaled 387.1 billion won.
That figure exceeds by 267.4 billion won the previous single-company record of 119.7 billion won held by Daewoo Winia Group, making Homeplus's arrears 3.2 times larger.
Under guidance from the Ministry of Employment and Labor to clear the backlog, Homeplus has paid out 320.7 billion won of the total — but 66.4 billion won, or 17.2 percent, remains unpaid.
The outstanding amount includes 51.3 billion won in wages for July and August, 12.9 billion won in severance for departing employees, and 2.2 billion won in unused annual leave allowances. In July, Homeplus failed to pay 26.3 billion won owed to 9,874 workers on time, and in August it withheld 25 billion won owed to 9,016 workers.
Retirement fund reserves also fell below the legally required minimum. Homeplus was required to set aside 466.11 billion won under its defined-benefit (DB) plan and 228.48 billion won under its defined-contribution (DC) plan, for a combined total of 694.59 billion won.
Actual contributions came to only 372.83 billion won for the DB plan and 196.35 billion won for the DC plan, totaling 569.18 billion won. Compared with the legal requirements, the DB plan is short by 93.28 billion won and the DC plan by 32.13 billion won, leaving a combined shortfall of 125.41 billion won — an overall funding ratio of about 81.9 percent.
By plan type, the DB funding ratio stood at 79.9 percent and the DC ratio at 85.9 percent, both below the legally required 100 percent. If the rehabilitation process drags on or additional workers leave, the number of employees unable to collect their retirement benefits could grow.
The court approved Homeplus's rehabilitation plan on Sept. 2. The company has been pursuing a return to normal operations, resuming business at 67 stores from Aug. 13 while proceeding with repayments under the plan.
"Workers' right to survival is under threat from record-breaking wage arrears and an inadequate retirement reserve," Kim said. "The government and the National Assembly must put in place protective measures to ensure that wage claims are not violated during the rehabilitation process and that workers are not subjected to secondary harm from mass layoffs."
fact0514@heraldcorp.com
