Thirty-two large companies have been designated by the government as needing to seek a voluntary workout program or be placed under court receivership, including five electronics firms as well as troubled shipping companies.
 
The Financial Supervisory Service(FSS) said on Sunday that 32 out of 602 large companies with outstanding loans of more than 50 billion won have been included on the restructuring list.
 
Thirteen of the firms were put in category C and will be required to pursue a debt rescheduling program with their creditors, while the other 19 companies were classified as category D, under which they will go into court receivership.
 
The 32 firms’ combined outstanding loans stood at 19-point-five trillion won, up 12-point-four trillion won from a year ago.
 
The FSS said that the number of firms on the list this year decreased by three from last year.

The electronics industry had long remained free from state corporate restructuring schemes, but this time, as many as five companies in the industry were deemed as requiring some form of restructuring. In particular, small component suppliers for semiconductors and display products were hit hard.