Victims affected by the large-scale delay in payment settlements by TMON and WEMAKEPRICE (TMEP) held a rally on the 25th, urging authorities to accurately assess the scale of the damage and provide substantial support.
On the afternoon of the same day, the TMEP victims' group, the "Black Umbrella Victims Emergency Response Committee" (Black Umbrella ERC), held a rally in front of the Financial Supervisory Service in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, stating, "Do not delay measures to prevent further innocent victims from emerging, and take action to provide relief and enact special legislation."
About 150 sellers and consumers affected by the incident attended the rally. Participants wore black tops and bottoms along with masks, and attached signs to black umbrellas with messages such as "Enact Special Legislation to Urgently Support Victims" and "Victims of Planned Crime! Sellers Burdened with Debt!"
The ERC said, "Even though a month has passed since the incident occurred, the exact amount of unsettled payments has not been accurately tallied," adding, "Please promptly establish measures by precisely identifying the scale and types of damage."
They continued, "Although the government announced a loan support package worth 1.6 trillion KRW for TMEP sellers, there has been no tangible sense of when it will be implemented," and requested "accurate information sharing and swift execution regarding the loan disbursement status."
They also stated, "The emergency management stabilization funds for sellers are merely high-interest loans intended to temporarily resolve cash flow issues," adding, "Since some sellers do not meet eligibility criteria or cannot receive support due to high interest rates and short grace periods, we hope for practical assistance."
On the consumer victims' side, they said, "Refunds for general products have not yet been fully processed, and there have been zero refund cases for consumers who purchased travel products by card," urging, "Accurately assess and disclose the amount of consumer damages."
They further added, "Relief measures should also be prepared for victims who paid via direct bank transfers or mobile phone payments and are currently in a blind spot for damage recovery."
Through an appeal, the ERC stated, "Even after the TMEP incident, recent cases such as Allets have occurred in succession," warning, "The continuous closure of small and medium e-commerce businesses will bring a major crisis to the entire e-commerce sector and further deepen the monopoly of large platforms."
They emphasized, "As government ministries are acting separately, victims are becoming exhausted," and urged, "Please take action to establish fundamental policies, enact special legislation, and amend related laws."
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