[Yonhap News Photo]
Hanjin Shipping, the troubled arm of South Korea's Hanjin Group, presented a fresh scheme Thursday to tide over a liquidity crisis as the group's ruling family is under growing pressure from creditors to donate or create more money for corporate restructuring.
The country's largest container carrier has been kept afloat with a continued injection of money from other group units, including Korean Air.
The company needs at least one trillion won (889 million US dollars) in its short-term liquidity to pay back debt and cover arrears in payment to chartered ship owners as well as operational funds. But its viability was called into question after the company's second-quarter operating loss widened to 228.9 billion won from 115.8 billion won in the previous quarter.
Negotiations on cutting charter rates and postponing the repayment of 2.5 trillion won borrowed to buy vessels have been delayed.
Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, has said the shipping line should stand on its own feet or face court receivership. Creditors want Hanjin to cover some 700-900 billion won through its self-rescue program before they provide fresh loans. It's not known how much the company promised to raise in its new program.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
