Court Hearing Begins for JoongAng Group Rehabilitation; Hong Jeong-do Says, "Will Follow Court's Decision"

[Anchor]

The court has begun hearings to decide whether to commence rehabilitation procedures for JoongAng Group affiliates, including JTBC. Hong Jeong-do, Vice Chairman of JoongAng Holdings, who appeared in court as the representative for JoongAng Holdings, stated, "I will faithfully follow the court's decision."

Jang Hun-gyeong reports.

[Reporter]

The 2nd Division of the Seoul Bankruptcy Court began representative interrogations for five JoongAng Group affiliates at 10:00 a.m. today, starting with JoongAng Holdings.

Hong Jeong-do, Vice Chairman of JoongAng Holdings, and CEO Kim Jin-gyu appeared as representatives for JoongAng Holdings and JoongAng P&I, respectively, entering the courtroom while avoiding the press.

After the representative interrogation, which lasted about two hours and 20 minutes, Vice Chairman Hong left without providing any specific answers to questions from reporters.

[Hong Jeong-do/Vice Chairman of JoongAng Holdings: I will faithfully follow the court's decision.]

The court will determine whether to commence rehabilitation procedures after hearing details regarding debt scale and debt restructuring plans from the representatives of other affiliates, including JTBC, Megabox JoongAng, and Contentree JoongAng.

[Jeon Jin-bae/CEO of JTBC: I will explain the current management situation facing JTBC to the court in detail.]

Previously, JTBC declared a default on June 12 after failing to repay 20.6 billion won in securitized borrowings upon maturity.

Two days later, its holding company, JoongAng Holdings, as well as affiliates such as Contentree JoongAng, also filed for the commencement of rehabilitation procedures.

The court assigns cases with debts exceeding 300 billion won to a division presided over by the Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Court. This case was assigned to the 2nd Division, and the court has already issued a preservation order and a comprehensive injunction to freeze assets and claims.

Meanwhile, JTBC has submitted an application to postpone the commencement of rehabilitation procedures, expressing its intent to participate in an autonomous restructuring support program.

If the court approves this, the commencement of rehabilitation procedures will be postponed, allowing the company and its creditors to negotiate restructuring autonomously.

For other affiliates, including JoongAng Holdings, it is highly likely that the decision on whether to commence rehabilitation procedures will be made separately based on the results of the representative interrogations and submitted documents.

Reported by Jang Hun-gyeong | Video by Ahn Yeo-jin
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.