Delayed Settlement of Government Price Discount Budget Also at 'Timef'

The e-commerce platforms Tmon and Wemakeprice (hereinafter 'Timep'), which have failed to settle sales payments to their partner vendors on time, are also delaying the payment of the seafood discount support budget that the government has been providing as a measure against high inflation. Approximately 140 vendors have not received the government's discount budget.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on the 30th, the budget allocated to participating distributors in the government's seafood discount event 'Seafood Grand Sale,' aimed at stabilizing seafood prices, has also not been paid. About 140 seafood distribution companies listed on Tmon and Wemakeprice participated in the Seafood Grand Sale but have not received the government's discount support budget. The Seafood Grand Sale is an event where the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries directly provides subsidies to vendors so that consumers can purchase seafood at discounted prices at online and offline marts.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has confirmed that all subsidies for the Seafood Grand Sale conducted until May have been fully paid. However, for sales in June, Timep has yet to transfer the government's discount support budget.

However, the amount of the delayed discount budget is not significant. A Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official stated, "Apart from the sales payments, the amount of the government-supported price discount budget going to the vendors is not expected to be large," adding, "So far, about 120 million KRW has not been transferred due to Timep."

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is reviewing measures to address the issue. An official said, "Although the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is not the responsible department for the Timep incident, we are prepared to respond together with related ministries if problems arise," and added, "For now, we are monitoring whether Timep settles the relevant budget."