▲ Korea Media and Communications Commission resolves to hold hearing on Eugene ENT, YTN's largest shareholder (File Footage)
An appellate court has scheduled December 18 for its ruling on whether to revoke Eugene ENT's status as the largest shareholder of news channel YTN.
The Administrative Division 8-2 of the Seoul High Court on Friday (October 30) set the ruling date for the case for 2:00 p.m. on December 18.
This comes about four months after the Seoul High Court held its first appellate hearing on August 28, and approximately one year after the Seoul Administrative Court delivered its first-instance judgment.
Attention is focusing on the outcome of the appellate verdict as the date was scheduled while the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) is currently deliberating whether to revoke the administrative approval for the change of YTN's largest shareholder.
The KMCC recently accepted Eugene ENT's challenge seeking the recusal of one of the hearing officers, selected another officer, and subsequently notified Eugene ENT that the hearing procedure would take place on November 3.
However, after the date for the appellate ruling was set on Friday (October 30), Eugene ENT issued a statement requesting a postponement of the hearing procedure.
Eugene ENT stated, "The higher court's ruling on the same issue is scheduled to be issued in about seven weeks, and deciding whether to revoke the approval before that could lead to differing determinations between the administrative agency and the judiciary," adding, "There is a concern that this could affect our opportunity to receive a judicial ruling from the higher court."
The company added, "As the revocation of approval is not a procedure with a fixed deadline, proceeding with the hearing after the appellate court's decision will further enhance the legitimacy and legal stability of the conclusion."
Eugene explained that it had sent an official document containing this position to the KMCC secretariat.
Previously, Eugene ENT acquired a 30.95% stake in YTN for 319.9 billion won in late 2023 and received approval from the former Korea Communications Commission (KCC) to become the largest shareholder in February 2024; however, the YTN Employee Stock Ownership Association challenged the legitimacy of this status and filed an administrative lawsuit.
In response, the first-instance Seoul Administrative Court ruled to revoke the KCC's 2023 approval of the change, citing that the decision made under the commission's so-called 'two-member system' was not lawful.
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