Samjeong Enterprises, whose chairman was arrested due to the Banyan Tree fire, is 'drifting' in rehabilitation procedures... Can't find the manager for 3 weeks

Samjeong Enterprise and Samjeong E&C are undergoing corporate rehabilitation.
Recently, rehabilitation managers, including the chairman, were arrested under the Central Justice Act.
Court deliberates for 20 days over appointment of new manager

Samjeong Enterprises, which is undergoing corporate rehabilitation procedures, is considering the court's decision to appoint a new manager after its chairman was arrested for the Banyan Tree fire in Busan.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Busan Rehabilitation Court's Rehabilitation Division 2 (Chief Judge Kyung-geun Han), which is in charge of the corporate rehabilitation of Samjung Enterprises and Samjung E&C, is proceeding with the process of appointing a new administrator.

Initially, when the court decided to initiate rehabilitation procedures for Samjung Enterprises and Samjung E&C on the 19th of last month, it did not appoint a separate administrator.

The court generally guarantees the continuity of the representative's management by appointing the existing manager as a manager or considering the existing representative as a manager if the existing manager has not committed a serious management mistake such as embezzlement.

Although the company is in a management crisis and has applied for rehabilitation procedures, the purpose is to repay debts through normalization of management, so continuous management is possible, including the management know-how of the existing managers, trust relationships with business partners, and sales.

However, on the 4th, arrest warrants were issued for Samjung Enterprise Chairman Park Jeong-oh and Samjeong E&C CEO Park Sang-cheon, who were under investigation for the Busan Banyan Tree fire incident, on charges of violating the Serious Accident Punishment Act.

The position of administrator, the person responsible for carrying out the rehabilitation procedures of the two companies, became vacant overnight.

Currently, a court-appointed restructuring officer (CRO) is performing essential tasks such as salary payment, but if the administrator's absence is prolonged, the corporate rehabilitation of Samjung Enterprises and Samjung E&C may be disrupted.

It has been reported that the court has been mulling over the appointment of a new manager for about three weeks.

A court official said, "As Samjung Enterprises and Samjung E&C are large companies in the region, the court is giving great thought to selecting a new manager. Since the company is large, it is necessary to select someone who is familiar with the internal circumstances of Samjung Enterprises. However, as investigations are currently continuing within the company, we are carefully considering it."

Attorney Kim Won-sang of Daeryun Law Firm explained, "Usually, when an existing manager is legally arrested for a criminal case, an external third party is appointed as the manager. There is a pool of third-party managers within the rehabilitation court, and it is generally made up of people from the financial sector, such as banks and securities firms, and people who have served as financial directors at large corporations."

He continued, “Among these, we need to find someone who has experience working in a similar industry as Samjeong Enterprises or at least in a management position or someone from the financial sector who has extensive experience working with a large company, so it appears that the appointment of a new manager is being delayed.”

Reporter Kwon Tae-wan (kwon97@newsis.com)

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Samjeong Enterprises, chairman arrested for Banyan Tree fire, 'drifting' in rehabilitation process... Can't find the manager for 3 weeks (Shortcut)