Bankruptcy Court Summons JTBC CEO Over Default; Hearing Set for June 23

The court has decided to summon the CEO of the general programming channel JTBC, which has filed for rehabilitation, for questioning.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court's 2nd Rehabilitation Division (Chief Judge Jeong Jun-young) is scheduled to hold a representative interrogation hearing for JTBC at 2:00 p.m. on June 23.

Interrogation hearings for the representatives of JoongAng Holdings, Contentree JoongAng, Megabox JoongAng, and JoongAng P&I, which have also entered rehabilitation proceedings, will be held consecutively starting at 10:00 a.m. on the same day.

The court is expected to question the representatives of each company regarding the specific scale of their debts and plans for debt restructuring.

Under the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act, the court must interrogate the debtor or their representative once an application for the commencement of rehabilitation proceedings is filed.

The court's decision on whether to commence rehabilitation proceedings is typically made within one month.

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 filed for the commencement of rehabilitation proceedings, and JTBC followed suit by filing its own application with the court on June 15.

The bankruptcy court has assigned all of these applications to the 2nd Rehabilitation Division.

On June 15, the court accepted the applications from all five companies and issued preservation orders and comprehensive injunctions to freeze their assets and claims.

Additionally, JTBC has submitted a request to the court to postpone the commencement of rehabilitation proceedings, expressing its intent to pursue the Autonomous Restructuring Support (ARS) program.

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

If the court approves the ARS program, the commencement of rehabilitation proceedings can be postponed for up to three months, and the postponement period can be further extended if progress is made in negotiations.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.