Industry ministry asks e-commerce platforms not to delay payments for vendors

The industry ministry asked e-commerce platforms to make efforts to make payments to their vendors by the due date and manage their financial health to regain consumer trust, officials said Thursday. The ministry made the appeal at a meeting with executives of e-commerce platforms, days after the government unveiled measures to help small vendors hit by the payment delays of Qoo10-owned online marketplaces -- TMON and WeMakePrice. "The ministry will make efforts to establish an ecosystem for a sustainable online retail system by gathering opinions from experts and industry officials," said Je Kyung-hee, a senior ministry official. The meeting included executives from Gmarket, Coupang Inc., 11st Street and Naver Corp., according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Source : Yonhap News Agency