Finance minister announces measures for e-commerce vendors following Qoo10 payment delays

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok attends a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Aug. 6. Yonhap

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Tuesday unveiled policy measures for e-commerce vendors, as such vendors were hit by the recent payment delays of Qoo10-owned platforms TMON and WeMakePrice.

Under the measures, the government will require e-commerce platforms to make payments to vendors within a specified date, Choi told a meeting with ruling party officials.

The government will also require e-commerce platforms to separately manage money set to be paid to vendors, Choi said.

As of last Thursday, the amount of delayed payments by the two platforms was estimated to reach 278.3 billion won ($203 million), but speculation suggests that this amount could escalate to as much as 1 trillion won if future payments are included.

“It is possible that the extent of the damage may increase further when we consider the transactions for June and July, with their approaching settlement deadlines,” Choi said.

During the meeting, the government and the ruling party said they agreed to provide liquidity of 500 billion won to the vendors of TMON and WeMakePrice.

TMON and WeMakePrice have been accused of continuing their business dealings despite knowing that timely payments to vendors were impossible due to liquidity issues. (Yonhap)