South Korea to support vendors hit by Qoo10 payment delays, founder pledges compensation

A person passes in front of TMON headquarters amid
WeMakePrice and TMON, owned by Singapore-based
e-commerce platform Qoo10, are facing increasingly
delayed payments, in Seoul

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea will provide $400 million in financial support to small businesses hit by payment delays at two Qoo10 e-commerce platforms and the Singapore-based firm's founder pledged to use his own assets to help compensate customers and vendors.

Seoul-based TMON and WeMakePrice have failed to make payments to merchants using their platforms since early July, with Qoo10 saying the problem was triggered by a glitch in its payment system.

The payment delays have prompted South Korean financial authorities to launch an investigation, some vendors to cut ties and long lines of customers at offices of both platforms last week demanding refunds. Vendors and customers are planning a protest later on Monday.

Full story at Yahoo News.

By Jihoon Lee and Joyce Lee