"Value Plummets by Two-Thirds"... Concerns Mount Over JoongAng Group Corporate Bond Crash

[Anchor]

As major affiliates of JoongAng Group file for corporate rehabilitation, concerns are growing over potential losses for those who invested in the group's corporate bonds. Individual investors have announced plans to hold a protest in front of the JTBC building the day after tomorrow (June 19).

Reporter Kim Hye-min has the story.

[Reporter]

In February, a person in their 50s, identified as A, and their children purchased 150 million won worth of JTBC corporate bonds on the open market.

Since JTBC filed for corporate rehabilitation on the 12th, the price of the bonds has plummeted to one-third of their original value.

[A / JTBC Corporate Bond Investor: It seems like they earn about 100,000 won working overnight shifts at Coupang. That is the money my son saved up... For three days, I felt so choked up that I couldn't even swallow anything.]

There are four types of listed bonds issued by JTBC. Their prices, which hovered between 9,000 won and 10,000 won on the 12th, have fallen to the 3,000-won range as of today (June 17).

The prices of listed corporate bonds for the JoongAng Ilbo, the parent company of the group, have also seen a sharp decline.

JoongAng Ilbo disclosed that an event of default has occurred regarding four of its listed bond issues, totaling 137 billion won.

This means that because the debtor is in a state where it is difficult to repay its debts, creditors can demand repayment even before the maturity date. However, JoongAng Ilbo stated that as it is pursuing a workout, it cannot comply with demands for early repayment.

The outstanding balance of JoongAng Group's corporate bonds stands at 820 billion won, and it is estimated that a portion of these was sold to individual investors.

[Lee Min-kyu / Lawyer: There is a very high risk that they will not be fully repaid. Since debt repayment is prohibited while rehabilitation procedures are underway, investors may only be able to receive payment after a rehabilitation plan is approved later.]

Individual investors argue that by selling high-interest corporate bonds just four months before filing for rehabilitation, JoongAng Group and the brokerage firms ignored the risks despite being aware of them. They announced they would hold a protest in front of the JTBC building the day after tomorrow.

The brokerage firms that managed the bond issuance explained that they made decisions based on objective data and that credit ratings and risk factors could be checked through bond trading platforms.

Financial supervisory authorities have begun an inspection of the brokerage firms involved to determine if there were any instances of mis-selling.

Reported by Kim Hye-min | Video by Park Hyun-chul | Video Editing by Kim Jong-mi
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.