South Korea creates $445M bailout fund after payment glitch trips up e-commerce giant

The South Korean government on Monday created a ₩560 billion ($445 million) rescue package to bail out merchants who used two major e-commerce marketplaces that have failed to pass on payments for several weeks. The e-commerce services are called WeMakePrice and TMON – both owned by an entity called Qoo10 Group. Launched in …

[David 132]

A really small fund?

Yes, yes, I know Corrections should be sent using the above link, but I just tried that, and the infernal Captcha didn’t load, thereby losing my carefully-written email. So via a Comment it is, sorry.

Either it’s a REALLY small fund, or your headline has omitted the word “million”:

“South Korea creates $445 bailout fund”

Perhaps they had a whip-round and rummage down the back of the sofa cushions?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: A really small fund?

I even wondered whether it was clickbait - $445 is an incredibly small amount to describe as a bailout fund, hence interest piqued.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: A really small fund?

> the infernal Captcha didn’t load, thereby losing my carefully-written email

That's precisely why I still write it up in Notepad before transferring to the web-form. This is the state of innovation in late 2024.

[JamesTGrant]

Payments can be taken but not given eh…

CEO offers to sell his stock to cover missing funds, basically indicating that the share price will tank eh…

Seems super dodgy

[DS999]

If they haven't been able to make payments for weeks

The stock should have already tanked. I wouldn't be shocked if the CEO hadn't already sold a bunch of stock, and will be departing for an extradition-proof retirement location before long.

[An_Old_Dog]

"Glitch"

A/K/A "rug-pull".

(While privately singing and dancing) "We kept the money! We kept the money! You'll never find it! You'll never find it!"

[ecofeco]

As with all of these "rescue" funds

Take a guess who will get the funds and who will not.

Why yes, the small eommawa appa businesses will get nothing! How did you guess?

[Mike007]

Am I understanding correctly?

They are middlemen, so customer buys goods and they take the payment and receive the funds, then they send those funds to the merchant minus a small fee?

It is impossible for such a business to not have the money to pay all merchants in full without there being some sort of fraud going on... right? I mean what excuse are they going to come up with for what happened to the money in between them receiving it and it no longer being there?

[Chris Evans]

Possibly not fraud!

"It is impossible for such a business to not have the money to pay all merchants in full without there being some sort of fraud going on... right? " Well that is how it should work but many companies don't use a separate 'Clients funds' account to their own account and even if they've not been profligate with spending they could end up with cash flow problems. It could be fraud, extremely bad management or just poor management we just don't know yet which.