[Listed Companies at a Crossroads] DT&CRO 6: Chairman Park Chaegyu Takes a "Special Bonus" Amid Liquidity Crisis

Company goes all out to secure cash, including by selling a profitable subsidiary
Meanwhile, Chairman Park Chaegyu's family reaps billions of won in personal gains

Park Chaegyu, chairman of DT&C.

Park Chaegyu, chairman of the DT&C Group, was found to have received a self-awarded performance bonus worth hundreds of millions of won while the company was struggling with a liquidity crisis. As the company sold a profitable subsidiary to secure cash, he not only avoided taking responsibility for management failures but also collected a performance bonus. The controversy is expected to grow, as his children as well as Park appear to have made several billion won in gains.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on October 19, Chairman Park received KRW 614.87 million in salary from DT&C in the first half of this year. This included KRW 194.87 million in base pay and a KRW 420 million bonus. Although Park is not a registered director of DT&C, he receives an annual salary of hundreds of millions of won from the company.

The reason for paying a bonus of more than KRW 400 million in the first half of this year was that 10% of the realized gain from the sale of subsidiary LabT was calculated as a "special incentive." DT&C said it determined the performance bonus through an "internal approval" process, recognizing Park's contribution to generating net profit for the company through the sale of LabT. This suggests that the company did not even convene its board of directors before awarding its owner a bonus worth hundreds of millions of won.

In January, DT&C sold all 34,395 shares it held in LabT, representing a 57.32% stake, to TUV Rheinland Korea Ltd. for approximately KRW 11 billion. LabT was a profitable subsidiary in the group whose main business was providing technical inspection services.

The sale of this profitable company appears to have been intended to support the liquidity crisis at affiliate DT&CRO. At the time, DT&CRO was running out of cash after posting large losses since 2023. It was also facing the need to repay early KRW 15.9 billion in convertible bonds (CBs) issued in 2024.

To secure cash, DT&CRO sold a building worth KRW 5.1 billion and shares in DT&I Investment worth KRW 1.7 billion, among other assets, to its parent company, DT&C. Earlier this year, it also sold some of the land it owned to DT&C. DT&C, in turn, appears to have sold profitable subsidiary LabT after its own liquidity position weakened as a result.

Chairman Park directly serves as CEO of DT&CRO and leads the company. In 2023, after the COVID-19 pandemic, DT&CRO's revenue fell 40%, and it recorded a net loss of KRW 16.6 billion, marking a large-scale deficit. The company continued to post losses thereafter, recording a net loss of KRW 17.9 billion in the first half of this year alone. Its losses widened fivefold compared with the same period last year. Park's management failures have thus led to a liquidity crisis across the DT&C Group.

Park's children also appear to have benefited from the sale of LabT. As of the end of last year, Park's children, Park Seongho and Park Chorok, each owned a 4.7% stake in LabT. If they sold their shares alongside DT&C, they are estimated to have each received approximately KRW 1 billion in cash. Even if they retained their shares, they would have gained on paper as the sale price increased LabT's valuation.

DT&CRO did not respond to a request for comment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.