Homeplus suppliers and tenant businesses urged South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups to provide targeted assistance as the retailer’s reopening failed to resolve severe liquidity pressures. The meeting, chaired by Vice Minister Lee Byung-kwon at the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency’s Seoul Metropolitan Area Support Center on the 25th, heard that unpaid claims, lost sales and store closures were threatening the livelihoods of thousands of businesses and workers. Homeplus executed 200 billion won (approximately $144.6 million) in debtor-in-possession emergency operating funds, soft-opened 67 core stores on the 7th, formally reopened on the 13th and resumed online operations at 59 stores. Yet shelves remained partly empty, suppliers reported unpaid invoices and tenant sales fell 12.9% on the first day of reopening, even as Homeplus’s offline sales rose 18.6% year-over-year. Attendees called for low-interest policy funding backed by public-interest claims, tax deferrals, relocation and restart assistance, and legal support. The ministry said it would examine ways to reduce borrowing costs, mobilize available support and review liability for damages as the September 4 deadline for approval of Homeplus’s rehabilitation plan approaches.