The supermarket chain Homeplus, currently under court-led rehabilitation, will close 15 stores where rent negotiations have failed and offer unpaid leave to headquarters staff on a voluntary basis.

The closures, to be carried out sequentially, will affect 15 of the company’s 68 leased stores nationwide, including the Gayang branch in Seoul, the Siheung, Ilsan and Dongtan branches in Gyeonggi Province, the Jeonju Wansan branch in North Jeolla Province, and several locations in Busan and Ulsan.

Unpaid leave for headquarters employees who want it will begin September 1.

Executive salary cuts, introduced in March, will remain in place until the rehabilitation process is complete.

A Homeplus labor union representative criticized the decision, saying it undermines the chain’s nationwide brand value and breaks a pledge by majority shareholder MBK Partners not to split up the company.

The retailer, one of the largest supermarket chains in the country, has been under court receivership since March and last month received court approval for a pre-rehabilitation M&A plan to facilitate its sale.