[Exclusive] ASQ, led by former Qoo10 figures, enters the fresh food market... Questions rise on "Complete break from Ku Young-bae?"

[비즈한국] Circumstances suggest that key figures from Qoo10, who have long worked with Qoo10 CEO Ku Young-bae, are embarking on new business expansions. Following signs of e-commerce expansion through ASQ last summer, it has been confirmed that they have established a separate entity, 'ASQ Fresh', aimed at penetrating the fresh food market. While CEO Ku officially stepped down during the process of rebranding KCCW (K-Commerce Center for World) to ASQ, the presence of numerous former Qoo10 executives in key leadership roles has raised questions about the relationship between Ku and ASQ.

KCCW, founded by Qoo10 CEO Ku Young-bae, is expanding its business scope after changing its name to ASQ last June. Photo = Reporter Park Eun-sook

ASQ, home to former Qoo10 staff, establishes fresh food subsidiary

According to BizHankook's coverage, it was confirmed that ASQ established a subsidiary called 'ASQ Fresh' in July to specialize in the fresh food business. ASQ is the company formerly known as KCCW, which CEO Ku Young-bae had founded to push for the integration of TMON and Wemakeprice. Although CEO Ku resigned from his position in June, the company's management is still led by former Qoo10 personnel.

ASQ Fresh focuses on fresh food and food logistics as its core business areas. The corporate registry for ASQ Fresh includes business objectives such as: the distribution and import/export of livestock products, agricultural products, and tax-free foodstuffs; e-commerce-based food sales; and logistics services related to the storage and delivery of refrigerated and frozen foods.

With ASQ Fresh setting a scope that encompasses everything from the distribution of agricultural, livestock, and marine products to cold-chain logistics, industry observers are speculating whether ASQ is preparing to enter the fresh food market. However, the business has yet to take concrete shape. The address listed for the ASQ Fresh website is currently inaccessible.

The CEO of ASQ Fresh is concurrently held by ASQ CEO Lee Ju-han. CEO Lee, who previously served as a team leader at Gmarket and a director at Qoo10 Technology, joined as a co-CEO when KCCW changed its name to ASQ last June. It has been confirmed that ASQ Fresh has merely registered a shared office in Gangnam-gu as its business address.

The entrance to ASQ's office. It shares the same office space as Wish Korea, the corporation operating 'WISH,' the global commerce platform acquired by Qoo10. Photo = Reporter Park Hae-na

ASQ has been accelerating its business expansion this year. While it previously focused on e-commerce-based wholesale/retail, import/export, and travel/leisure/ticket sales, it added dozens of new business objectives this June, including purchasing agency services, software and design content development, and warehousing. In this context, the establishment of a specialized food subsidiary makes its portfolio diversification move even more apparent.

This trend of expansion is also connected to changes in the management composition. Since the arrival of former Qoo10 figures, ASQ has been moving toward broadening its business scope. CEO Ku Young-bae founded KCCW in August 2024 to promote the TMON-Wemakeprice integration, but the purpose of its establishment weakened after TMON was acquired by Oasis361150, and he stepped down after renaming the company to ASQ in June.

Even after CEO Ku's departure, the company is being operated by former Qoo10 personnel. CEO Hong Hyun-jik, who was an internal director during the founding of KCCW, was appointed as ASQ CEO, and CEO Lee Ju-han joined as co-CEO. CEO Hong is known to have worked with CEO Ku since their days at Gmarket and served as an executive at Qoo10. In August, Wish Korea CEO Koo Hee-jin was appointed as an auditor. Wish Korea is the legal entity established to operate 'WISH,' a global commerce platform acquired by Qoo10. CEO Koo Hee-jin also serves as a director with executive power at the Qoo10 Joint Labor Welfare Fund.

As key positions at ASQ are being filled by former Qoo10 figures who have worked with CEO Ku, some have raised questions as to whether his connection to the company has truly been severed, despite his official resignation. BizHankook contacted ASQ multiple times to confirm its business direction and CEO Ku's involvement, but received no response.

On November 10, the Seoul Rehabilitation Court finalized the decision to terminate Wemakeprice's rehabilitation proceedings and declared it bankrupt. Photo = Reporter Park Jung-hoon

Wemakeprice ultimately goes bankrupt; TMON's normalization remains uncertain

While Qoo10 management is embarking on new business expansions through ASQ, the fallout surrounding CEO Ku and the TMON-Wemakeprice crisis is still ongoing. On November 10, Wemakeprice received a bankruptcy declaration from the court. This decision came one year and four months after it filed for corporate rehabilitation in July 2024. With Wemakeprice's bankruptcy, victims of the non-payment crisis are essentially unable to recover a single cent of their lost funds. It is known that there are approximately 108,000 creditors affected by the Wemakeprice crisis, with total damages amounting to 580 billion won.

Although TMON avoided bankruptcy after being acquired by Oasis in June, the repayment rate stood at only 0.76%, leading to continued backlash from creditors. Oasis has injected 18.1 billion won to acquire TMON and is pushing for a business resumption, but the platform has yet to normalize. An attempt to reopen in September was indefinitely postponed because an agreement with card companies could not be reached. The cause is attributed to card companies delaying their participation in restoring the payment network due to the flood of consumer complaints that followed the TMON crisis.

An Oasis official stated, "For TMON to reopen, card payments must be normalized, but the related issues remain unresolved. We have already taken all possible measures, so we have no choice but to wait for the card companies to open the channels. The reopening date cannot be determined."

When the TMON-Wemakeprice non-payment crisis broke out last year, CEO Ku expressed his intention to resolve the issue, even by investing his personal assets. However, no evidence has emerged to confirm that any actual asset sales or fundraising measures have taken place since then. Affected sellers have filed criminal complaints against CEO Ku, TMON CEO Ryu Kwang-jin, and Wemakeprice CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun for embezzlement, breach of trust, and fraud. The trial for CEO Ku and nine others, indicted on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust), has currently reached its 17th hearing.