[Anchor]
As five JoongAng Group affiliates, including JTBC, have filed for rehabilitation, the court has begun hearings to decide whether to initiate the rehabilitation process. Hong Jeong-do, Vice Chairman of JoongAng Holdings, appeared as a representative but entered the courtroom while avoiding the press.
Reporter Jang Hun-gyeong has the story.
[Reporter]
The Seoul Rehabilitation Court's 2nd Division held a hearing for the representatives of JoongAng Holdings at 10:00 a.m. today.
Hong Jeong-do, Vice Chairman of JoongAng Holdings, and CEO Kim Jin-gyu appeared as representatives, but they entered the courtroom avoiding the media.
Hearings for the representatives of other JoongAng Group affiliates, including JoongAng P&I, JTBC, Megabox JoongAng, and Contentree JoongAng, are also being held sequentially today (June 23).
The representative of each company is expected to explain the specific scale of debt and plans for debt restructuring to the court.
The court will review these details to determine whether to initiate the rehabilitation process. The decision must be made within one month from the date the debtor files for the commencement of rehabilitation proceedings.
Previously, JTBC declared a default on the 12th after failing to repay 20.6 billion won in securitized borrowings upon maturity.
Two days later, the holding company JoongAng Holdings, as well as affiliates such as Contentree JoongAng, filed for the commencement of rehabilitation proceedings one after another.
The court assigns cases with liabilities exceeding 300 billion won to a division presided over by the Chief Judge. This case was also assigned to the 2nd Rehabilitation Division, led by the Chief Judge, which has already issued preservation orders and comprehensive injunctions to freeze assets and claims.
Meanwhile, JTBC has submitted an application to postpone the commencement of rehabilitation proceedings, expressing its intent to participate in an autonomous restructuring support program.
If the court approves this, the commencement of rehabilitation proceedings will be postponed, allowing the company and its creditors to negotiate restructuring autonomously.
For other affiliates such as JoongAng Holdings, it is highly likely that the decision on whether to initiate rehabilitation proceedings will be made separately based on the results of the representative hearings and the submitted materials.
(Video Editing: Ahn Yeo-jin)
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