The court has approved JTBC's application for the Autonomous Restructuring Support (ARS) program and has postponed its decision on whether to commence rehabilitation proceedings.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court's 2nd Rehabilitation Division (Presiding Judge Jung Joon-young) announced that it would hold off on deciding whether to initiate rehabilitation proceedings until July 30 to monitor the progress of JTBC's ARS negotiations.

ARS is a program in which the court postpones the commencement of compulsory rehabilitation proceedings to support companies and creditors in negotiating restructuring autonomously.

During the ARS phase, the rights of creditors or shareholders are neither diluted nor compromised.

The court may postpone the commencement of rehabilitation proceedings for up to three months.

If significant progress is made in negotiations, the postponement period can be extended.

While a company negotiates with creditors as part of the ARS, it can continue to operate its business normally.

The court plans to conduct an investigation into the circumstances that led to JTBC's need for rehabilitation, as well as an evaluation of its property value, going-concern value, and liquidation value.

If an agreement is reached within the postponement period, JTBC will withdraw its rehabilitation application and implement the planned ARS measures.

If negotiations fail, the court will then decide whether to commence rehabilitation proceedings.

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

Two days later, on June 14, JoongAng Holdings, Contentree JoongAng, JoongAng P&I, and Megabox JoongAng successively filed for rehabilitation, leading to what is being called the JoongAng Group rehabilitation crisis.

On June 15, JTBC also filed for rehabilitation and expressed its intent to pursue the ARS program.