Pantech has requested for cancellation of revival process of defunct company. If court were to accept its request, then it will fade into the mists of history.
There will be large scale of unemployment if Pantech were to be liquefied, and it will have huge effects on Korean Information Communication Technology (ICT) system. As once successful venture company comes to an end, this will throw a wet blanket over many businesses and startup companies.
Pantech announced on the 26th that it is giving on its revival process while presenting its material regarding its apology on requesting for cancellation of its revival process. Although it has given its best effort to stabilize its company after the revival process in last August, it explained that the reason why it is submitting for request is that it will be hard to desire for any hope anymore.
“To overcome this difficult business situation, we gave it all in reducing the cost by voluntarily returning our salary and implementing leave of absence. For stability of the company through merger and acquisition, we put all of our efforts to at least sustain company activities.” CEO Lee Joon Woo of Pantech said about what the company did to revive Pantech.
“We didn’t give up our hope that if we can overcome this hardship right now, we believed that we can contribute to direct and indirect employment effect for tens of thousands of people, strengthening of competitiveness in domestic mobile communication market, and Korea’s development in growth industry in the future and creation of economy.” He emphasized on what Pantech could’ve done if it were to overcome its crisis.
“Even with our effort for last 10 months, we weren’t able to find a suitable candidate that can evaluate Pantech’s value properly. Because Pantech cannot fulfill its responsibility and role as an enterprise, we submitted a request for cancellation of revival process.” President Lee explained why it ultimately decided not to push towards reviving Pantech.
President Lee along with shareholders, creditors, and cooperative firms sent out their sincere apology. He also added he’s asking for forgiveness with a feeling that he has committed a great crime towards customers that supported Pantech’s products.
“We will give it our all till the last moment to minimize any inconvenience towards customers who use our products. We are sincerely thankful for everyone who loved our products.” President Lee concluded by giving thanks to Pantech’s customers.
Court will decide whether or not it will accept Pantech’s request after discussing with creditors and people who are affiliated with Pantech for about 3 weeks. If the court were to accept its request then Pantech will not be able to avoid bankruptcy since it has 903 million dollars (1 trillion KRW) worth of debt.
If Pantech disappears, Korean cell phone market’s structure will be steadier with Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Apple making up its structure. Around 70,000 people from 500 cooperative companies will have difficult livings, and Pantech’s technologies and patents will be scattered. As system related to distribution and production collapses, it will be a concern that there will be a loss of hundreds of millions dollars.
Staff Reporter An, Hochun | hcan@etnews.com