Seosamsok "Poor Evaluation of Companies in the Fisheries Mutual Growth Support Project"

"Wemakeprice Selected for '64.6 Billion Deficit'
“Improve Excessive Bonus Point System”"

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has been criticized for conducting a poor evaluation of companies participating in the Fisheries Mutual Growth Support Project aimed at promoting seafood consumption.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Seo Sam-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Yeongam·Muan·Shinan), despite reviewing the financial status during the evaluation of companies for the Fisheries Mutual Growth Support Project, Wemakeprice, a company with a deficit of 64.6 billion KRW, was selected. During the review process, all committee members considered the assets and liabilities and only awarded 2 points, yet the company was still chosen. Examining Wemakeprice’s financial statements submitted in 2023 for participation in this year’s project, its assets decreased significantly from 158.9 billion KRW in 2021 to 89.9 billion KRW in 2022, a drop of 68.9 billion KRW.

Wemakeprice, along with TMON, is an affiliate of Qoo10 and failed to settle sales amounts for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products in July, resulting in damages amounting to 133.5 billion KRW. Furthermore, as the allocation for the Fisheries Mutual Growth Support Project increased, the damages to companies grew even larger. Initially, 868 million KRW was supported for the three Qoo10 affiliates this year, but the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries additionally allocated about 500 million KRW, causing total damages of 1.366 billion KRW.

The selection method was also hasty. From 2020 to 2024, five review committee meetings were held to select sellers, but three of these were conducted only in writing, and there were no minutes for the face-to-face evaluations. Although 20 points were assigned for performance capabilities such as assets and sales, an additional 20 bonus points were given for content evaluation indicators like business plans, rendering the soundness evaluation ineffective.

In the ‘Agricultural and Livestock Products Discount Support’ project promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, sales and financial matters were not reviewed, resulting in 1 billion KRW being supported to four Qoo10 affiliates this year.

Assemblyman Seo stated, “Due to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries’ poor verification and increased support funds, damages to seafood sellers have increased further,” and criticized, “They selected TMON and Wemakeprice as project participants despite being aware of their financial status.”

Seo also emphasized, “Although the National Contract Act stipulates that financial status must be verified when concluding contracts to allow only qualified bidders to participate, the evaluation criteria include additional bonus points even if the financial condition is poor, creating a structure where deficit companies can participate freely. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries should conduct an internal audit to check for any issues during the process and improve the excessive bonus point system that offsets corporate soundness.”